Retired Taos mail carrier announces GOP bid for lt. gov.
The Republican primary election for lieutenant governor just got competitive, with a retired mail carrier from Taos becoming the second announced candidate for the four-year, $85,000-a-year post.
Mark Yule, 65, said Tuesday he spent most of his career as a postal worker and represented his colleagues as a union steward in the National Association of Letter Carriers.
In late November, Michelle Garcia Holmes, a political independent who switched to the Republican Party just before registering for the race, announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for the statewide elected position in the June primary.
A former detective with the Albuquerque Police Department, Holmes made an unsuccessful bid for mayor of the Duke City in November.
Yule said he wishes his GOP opponent luck but thinks he is more qualified for the position.
The lieutenant governor has few duties but often serves as a supporter of the governor’s policies. The lieutenant governor presides over the state Senate when it is in session and serves as the state’s chief executive when the governor is out of the state.
Yule, who said he retired five years ago, described himself as a lifelong Republican and a fiscal conservative who leans to the center on social issues.
“I think I can work behind the scenes to kind of bring
people together,” Yule said.
The political newcomer said he has name recognition within the town of Taos, where he said he ran the first mail delivery route starting in 1982.
A major issue for Yule is protecting state permanent funds from efforts to tap into the endowments in order to expand spending on government programs.
While some Democrats have proposed dipping into endowment money to pay for early childhood education, Yule said it should be saved for New Mexico’s future.
In a more crowded field across the aisle, six Democratic candidates, including Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales, have announced their candidacies for lieutenant governor.