State House Republicans set to vote on leadership

Representatives from Rio Rancho, Artesia will face off after party’s electoral losses

Republicans in the New Mexico House of Representatives need a leader in more ways than one.

House Minority Leader Nate Gentry of Albuquerque did not run for re-election.

And he is not the only GOP lawmaker who will be missing from the Roundhouse this year.

The party this month saw its numbers in the 70-member chamber reduced from 32 to perhaps as few as 24 at the same time Democrats took back the Governor’s Office.

In the face of all this, Republican House members will gather Sunday to pick a new leader, with the choices expected to come down to Reps. James Townsend of Artesia and Jason Harper of Rio Rancho.

As much as anything — age, geography, experience — the choice will be about the party’s direction after a bruising electoral defeat.

Townsend, 63, is likely to rally lawmakers from rural districts wary that their corners of the state will be edged out of power.

Meanwhile, Harper, 40, is likely to get support from lawmakers who want a younger leader from a relatively moderate district in the Albuquerque metro area, where the GOP suffered major setbacks in this month’s election.

First elected in 2012, Harper is a research engineer at Sandia National Laboratories with degrees from New Mexico Tech, Purdue University and the University of New Mexico. He is listed as an author on numerous scientific papers with names that are probably indecipherable to many. Just one example: “Multiphoton Lithography of Nanocrystalline Platinum and Palladium for Site-Specific Catalysis in 3D Microenvironments.”

The lawmaker’s demeanor is usually not so much that of a politician as an upbeat science fair judge.

Harper has been most outspoken on tax policy, fighting quixotically to overhaul New Mexico’s tax code. During the GOP’s brief control of the House from 2015-16, he chaired the Ways and Means Committee.

Townsend is retired from a career in the oil and gas industry. First elected in 2014, he may be best known from the last session for pushing to restore funds taken out of the reserves of public school districts during the state’s financial crunch. In turn, he clashed with party leaders on both sides of the aisle, arguing the state’s budget process is driven too much by political insiders. He ran for minority leader heading into the 2017 legislative session but fell short of the support Gentry drew.

On Friday, Townsend described the leadership race amiably enough, calling Harper a friend.

But the Artesia lawmaker also argued that he has more life experience and said he would give a voice to outlying parts of the state, particularly those oil-rich and more conservative corners.

“My constituents asked me to run because they want to have a balance between the rural and metropolitan areas,” he said.

Harper has argued for leadership that is relatively moderate, or at least has strong enough relations with leaders on the other side of the aisle.

“We won’t get anything done if we don’t work towards the middle,” Harper said.

Democrats in the House voted last weekend to keep their current leadership, nominating Brian Egolf of Santa Fe to continue as speaker. Legislators familiar with the meeting said all of the House Democratic leaders ran unopposed.

There will be plenty of change, though. The 60-day session that begins in mid-January could bring as many as 19 newcomers to the state House.