Similar candidates tout governing style, know-how
The Democratic primary race in state House District 43, which is dominated by Los Alamos County, is likely to hinge on more than résumé and policy statements this year.
That’s because on paper, when it comes to those bread-and-butter determinants of fitness for office, retired physicist Peter Sheehey and retired attorney Christine Chandler have a number of similarities.
Both are New Mexico transplants and former employees of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Both have logged years of service on the Los Alamos County Council. Both are prone to taking progressive stances on a range of issues and say they’ll decline contributions from corporate interests. They even share a handful of endorsements.
It’s likely the race will come down to governing style and perceived know-how — characteristics the candidates are touting in the days leading up to the June 5 primary.
“I am a scientist,” Sheehey said. “My opponent is a lawyer. She’s a smart lady, but … we’ve got quite a few lawyers already.”
Sheehey said he would bring a scientific approach to the job by analyzing the issues with a discerning mind and collecting data instead of blindly lining up on party lines.
He described himself as a “fiscally responsible progressive” who would strive to ensure the district gets value for the money it spends.
For her part, Chandler highlighted her years of work wrangling and editing legislation as a policy analyst for the state Senate Judiciary Committee during legislative sessions since 2014, gaining valuable contacts along the way. She also touted her ability to reach across the aisle.
“For a period of time [on the Los Alamos County Council], we tended to have councils that were Republican majorities,” she said. “In those cases, I worked well with both Democrats and Republicans, and I think that’s shown by the fact that I was asked to serve in a leadership position.”
“I’m vice chair now in my second year, and my opponent can’t say that,” she added.
Chandler and Sheehey are vying to replace Stephanie Garcia Richard, a Los Alamos Democrat who has held the position since 2013. Garcia Richard, a champion of liberal causes who twice won reelection in landslide votes, is vacating the post to run for state land commissioner.
Both contestants applaud Garcia Richard’s work and said they hope to bear her standard in the Legislature’s next two sessions.
District 43 includes the communities of Los Alamos and White Rock, as well as parts of Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties. Its representative will be charged with fighting for a broad cross-section of New Mexico interests, including those of scientists at LANL and citizens of rural communities including Cochiti Pueblo and Cuba.
The victor in the primary will face off in the general election against Lisa Shin, a Los Alamos optometrist and the only Republican in the running.
Until at least 2011, when longtime Republican Rep. Jeannette Wallace passed away, the district was a Republican stronghold. Since then, it has leaned left, though it’s still considered a swing district.
Of nearly 20,000 registered voters, about 43 percent are Democrats and 32 percent are Republicans. Another 25 percent are independents or declined to specify.
Sheehey, a 65-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran, moved to Los Alamos in 1986 to work for LANL. He retired in 2012.
This is Sheehey’s second run for the District 43 seat in the state House of Representatives. In 2010, he lost in a primary battle against Garcia Richard. Garcia Richard went on to lose to Wallace but was elected two years later.
Sheehey then ran for — and won — a seat on the Los Alamos County Council in 2012. He was re-elected in 2016.
He also serves on the board of the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District.
Sheehey and his wife, Naishing
Key, live in Los Alamos. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in aesthetic studies and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, both from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He received a master’s degree and a doctorate in physics from the University of California Los Angeles.
If elected, Sheehey said, he wants to fight for improved education, better broadband access and water issues. Improved infrastructure, he said, would benefit tourism in a region rich in natural beauty and history.
As a councilor, Sheehey lobbied the state Legislature to pass a bill that would eliminate a tax exemption for any nonprofit operator of LANL. The move, he said, would guarantee millions more in revenue for the state. The bill passed in both chambers but was vetoed by Gov. Susanna Martinez.
“A nonprofit which is running a $2 billion weapons lab — it’s hard to argue that’s an exempt operation,” he said.
It’s a position Chandler agrees with — and hopes to champion regardless of who receives the five-year management contract.
“I think we need to expect that there are going to be changes in the contractor on a periodic basis,” she said, “and we need to plan for that and not be working under kind of a crisis mode.”
Chandler moved to New Mexico from the East Coast in 1984 after graduating from Boston College Law School. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Smith College, from which she graduated in 1980.
Shortly after moving west, Chandler took a job as a staff attorney for LANL. The position, she said, required her to be a “utility player,” representing the facility on everything from employment litigation to benefits work.
Chandler, 59, held the LANL position until 2013, after which she went into private practice with her husband, George Chandler, also a former lab employee.
She said the duo is winding that work down, too, allowing the candidate to focus on her race and her work as a county councilor.
She was elected to the council for the first time in 1997 and served until 2000. She ran again in 2016, assuming office the next year.
On the council, Chandler has focused on improving housing options in Los Alamos — including affordable housing. She also said she’s made a point of reaching out to constituents who disagree with her to seek compromise.
Chandler and her husband live in Los Alamos. She has three stepchildren and six grandchildren.
In the fundraising race, Chandler has come out ahead, raising just over $15,000 as of May 14, compared to Sheehey’s $6,700.
Chandler infused $1,500 from her own bank account. Of her outside contributions, all but three came from in-state donors, and most came from residents of Los Alamos County. The average contribution totaled nearly $213.
Of that $15,000, Chandler has spent $11,675, mostly on campaign posters, print advertisements, mailers and voter research.
Sheehey’s average donation totaled a little over $176, with all but two from in-state contributors. He has spent about half of his funds so far, mostly on online ads and yard signs.