Choices for House, Santa Fe County races

Not enough House districts around Northern New Mexico and the state feature competition. House Speaker Brian Egolf, state Rep. Jim Trujillo and state Rep. Linda Trujillo, all Democrats, face no opposition; there is but one competitive race for Santa Fe County.

These candidates might be relieved, but competition gives citizens a chance to debate issues more robustly. In some cases — whether for the House or for the Santa Fe County Commissioner — competition only exists in November thanks to write-ins or independent candidates.

Good for them — they are offering themselves up so that voters have choices. If we can’t have more competitive races come November, New Mexico should consider abandoning traditional primaries — just put everyone on the ballot in November and let them battle it out. There could be a runoff only if one candidate did not emerge victorious. Until that day, here are our endorsements in competitive races for State House and Board of County Commissioners.

State House

District 22: Democrat Jessica Velasquez is seeking to replace retiring Rep. Jim Smith, who did an able job of representing this East Mountain district. Her opponent, GOP Rep. Gregg Schmedes, was appointed to fill Smith’s seat earlier this year. Velasquez will bring her experience as a small-business owner and educator to the Legislature. For District 22, Jessica Velasquez.

District 40: In the primary, when we endorsed Paula Garcia of Mora for the Democratic nomination — the seat was vacated by retiring State Rep. Nick Salazar — we said of Joseph Sanchez that we wished both he and Garcia could win. Sanchez, who beat Garcia and a third candidate to make it to November, has 15 years in management and technical experience in the energy industry, including as CEO of Jemez Mountain Electric Cooperative and. currently, at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Alcalde native is an engineer with deep roots in Northern New Mexico and grew up helping his father in his contracting business, raising cattle, cleaning the family acequia, and growing hay and alfalfa. He will need all those skills to represent his sprawling district, which includes parts of Colfax, Mora, Rio Arriba and San Miguel counties. He has an opponent in the fall not because the GOP fielded a candidate, but because former state Rep. Tweeti Blanchett is running as an independent. We appreciate her giving voters a choice. For District 40, Joseph Sanchez.

District 43: The seat is being vacated by Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos, a candidate for state land commissioner instead of another legislative term. Democrat Christine Chandler, a Los Alamos County councilor, is the best person to succeed Garcia Richard to represent the district, which covers Los Alamos County, as well as parts of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Sandoval counties. Chandler is an attorney who understands the importance of water rights in keeping acequias running, promising to support legislation to stop the easy transfer of these important rights without allowing community input. She will be a strong voice for early childhood education, better approaches to public safety than simply locking people up, and protecting our public lands and wilderness areas. For District 43, Christine Chandler.

District 46: Here comes trouble, as they say. Incumbent state Rep. Carl Trujillo was beaten by newcomer Andrea Romero, a progressive candidate who made it to the general election despite questions of how money was spent at the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities when she served as executive director. In both the lack of spending oversight and her response to the charges, Romero failed to impress, despite her grasp of issues and her progressive positions.

Incensed that Romero would be unopposed in November, LANL scientist Heather Nordquist decided to run as a write-in candidate, hoping that the popular Trujillo’s supporters would turn up and write her name on the ballot. (Despite his popularity among constituents, Trujillo was hobbled by a charge that he sexually harassed a lobbyist; the final hearing on the charges will be conducted soon.)

This is a complicated district, encompassing parts of progressive Santa Fe, the rural Pojoaque Valley and several Indian pueblos. The needs of all constituents seldom align on all issues. For example, residents have been embroiled in a decadeslong quest to settle a water rights case involving indigenous claims to water that predate European and American settlement. Nordquist is firmly in the locals’ camp (that is, the locals who are not Indian). Romero is backed by all the Indian tribes of the area.

We would prefer a nominee who is neither embarrassed by her handling of expense accounts nor one who might have difficulty addressing issues that concern one whole bloc of constituents. For District 46, choose not the lesser of two evils, but the candidate who most cares about the issues that matter — to you. No endorsement.

District 50: More competition, courtesy of an independent who is doing the hard work of running for political office. Incumbent Democratic House Rep. Matthew McQueen, however, is simply an excellent representative. He is strong on the environment, listens to constituents about the issues close to home (he helped strategize on how best to stop the Pilot Flying J truck stop) and works with all sorts of legislators, regardless of parties.

If partisanship is a problem — and it is — it’s not because of representatives such as McQueen. That said, Jarratt Applewhite, the independent candidate in the race, served well on the Santa Fe Board of Education and has a formidable intellect.

Both are solid choices for the district, which starts at Eldorado but stretches to near Belen. For District 50, Matthew McQueen.

Santa Fe County Commission

The Anayas had term-limited out — first Michael Anaya and then Robert Anaya each served eight years representing Santa Fe County from District 3. Democrat Rudy Garcia won the primary and had a clear road ahead to the commission (despite already serving on the Santa Fe Board of Education. Clear, that is, until Garcia’s past arrests and jail time on DWI charges were uncovered).

Still, Garcia will become a county commissioner unless independent Michael Anaya (the same Anaya who once held the seat as a Democrat) beats him.

In this race, we don’t like the man who was less than honest about his past troubles with drinking and the law — Garcia did not tell his fellow school board members about his jail time when he applied.

We also don’t like the idea of commission service as an Anaya family tradition, passed down from one brother to another. In the balance between brothers and former boozers, there’s barely a winner. No endorsement.