Gonzales ending his lieutenant governor campaign
Mayor ready to return to ‘civilian Santa Fe life’
Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales has dropped his bid to be the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.
Gonzales on Tuesday said his heart was never in the now four-way race for the No. 2 slot on the party’s ticket this fall.
He added that he is “at peace” with a return to the private sector and said he thinks any of the remaining lieutenant governor candidates on the Democratic side would sufficiently advocate for progressive causes in the $85,000-a-year position.
“At this stage in this campaign, where people are going out to counties around the state, asking delegates to show up and support them, I just felt like, without that full commitment in my heart, I really couldn’t step forward in good conscience,” Gonzales said.
The outgoing mayor, whose term will end next month, said he plans to tend to public speaking requests across the country in the immediate future.
Gonzales surprised many in Santa Fe when he announced in the fall he would not seek a second mayoral term. He made himself a candidate for the lieutenant governor post days after state Sen. Michael Padilla exited the contest under the cloud of decade-old sexual harassment allegations.
Gonzales, who cited family time commitments in declining to run for mayor, said he felt compelled to enter the lieutenant governor’s race when Padilla withdrew, leaving what Gonzales called a potential “vacuum of progressive advocacy.”
“I thought it was important … to get in, even though I’d pretty much settled on moving on, and make sure at least in the state’s second-highest office that there was a strong advocate for early childhood education and committing to a clean energy future,” Gonzales said.
“What I’ve witnessed since then … I’ve been able to watch all of the
candidates on the campaign trail and listen to them speak to their passion for education and for a better future for our state,” he said. “I’ve often sat there clapping for them, or wanting to clap for them, for sure.”
Gonzales, elected mayor of Santa Fe in 2014, has endorsed entrepreneur Alan Webber to succeed him as mayor.
Gonzales appeared to hint at his impending departure from the statewide race during a Webber fundraiser last week, when the mayor briefly strayed from his prepared remarks.
“The leader I am choosing to follow as I return to civilian Santa Fe life —” Gonzales read, adding, “And, oh, that sounds so good,” to laughs from the crowd of assembled Webber supporters.
“Well, not so fast,” joked Webber, in an apparent reference to Gonzales’ lieutenant governor bid.
The four candidates in the crowded Democratic primary race are educator Jeff Carr, Doña Ana County Commissioner Billy Garrett, former House Majority Leader Rick Miera and state Sen. Howie Morales of Silver City.
Michelle Garcia Holmes, a former Albuquerque Police Department detective, is the only Republican candidate, ensuring she’ll appear on the ballot with U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, the lone Republican candidate for governor.
Contact Tripp Stelnicki at 505-428-7626 or tstelnicki@sfnewmexican.com.