Appellate Judge Garcia steps down
Five seats on state’s Court of Appeals bench will be filled during next year’s elections
New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge Timothy L. Garcia will retire in February after nearly a decade on the court, according to a statement issued by The University of New Mexico School of Law, making him the second judge to announce his retirement from the appellate court this week and the fifth to depart the 10-member bench since the last election cycle.
His departure means Gov. Susana Martinez will have replaced half the court’s judges with her appointees by the time she leaves office. It also means that five seats on the appellate court will be up for grabs in next year’s elections.
Four challengers — all Democrats, all women — have announced they will seek election to Court of Appeals positions currently held by Martinez-appointed judges — all men, all Republican.
If all the female challengers were successful, seven of the 10 seats on the appellate bench would be held by women, which would make it the first time in state history there has been a female majority on the court, said Administrative Office of the Courts spokesman Barry Massey.
If Garcia’s seat also went to a female candidate, the court would have an 80 percent female majority.
“All these women running for office [locally and nationally] really inspired and compelled me [to run],” said Albuquerque lawyer Megan Duffy, 38, who announced earlier this week that she will seek the seat being vacated by Judge Jonathan Sutin, who announced his retirement last week.
Duffy, who has never held or sought public office before and has spent the bulk of her career handling civil cases in private practice, said she is drawn to the bench out of a “great respect for our courts and judges” and admiration for the way that laws order society.
Garcia, a former District Court judge in Santa Fe, was appointed to the appellate court in 2008 by then-Gov. Bill Richardson, elected to the post in 2010 and retained by voters in 2016.
The Judicial Nominating Commission will convene in Santa Fe in early 2018 to consider applicants for the vacancy being created by Garcia’s retirement. After interviewing the applicants, the commission will send the names of nominees to Martinez, who will have 30 days to appoint one of them or ask for more names.
The appointed judge will have to win election to the post in the next general election to stay on the bench.
The New Mexico Court of Appeals reviews appeals of all lower-court cases, except criminal cases that involve sentences of life imprisonment. The court considers about 9,000 cases a year. The judges are paid about $119,000 a year and, once elected, must stand for retention by voters every eight years.