History in the making
Two women contend for District 42 House seat
The winner of the Nov. 3 election to represent Taos County as House Representative for District 42 will be a woman. The district represents nearly 33,000 people sprawled across an area that encompasses a national forest, ski resorts and a national monument. The census estimates the population is more than half female and more than half Hispanic.
Vying to represent the region are Republican Linda Calhoun and Democrat Kristina Ortez.
This historic matchup might not have happened until Taos Mayor Dan Barrone, appointed to fill the position in January, decided not to run for the seat. He stepped in to fill the seat after Roberto “Bobby” Jesse Gonzales, who served as the district’s representative from 1995 to 2019, was appointed to fill the Senate District 6 position left vacant when longtime Senator Carlos Cisneros died.
Taos County has had at least one state representative every year back to 1912. The region hasn’t always been called House District 42. Those boundaries changed as populations shifted.
Taos has been represented by a woman at the state Capitol one other time: Charlotte Palmer, a Republican, served two years from 1925-1926.
For many of the early decades, Taos was represented by a Republican.
This year, whichever candidate wins Nov. 3, she will join Rep. Susan K. Herrera, of District 42, who represents the southwestern portion of Taos County along with parts of Río Arriba and Sandoval counties. That seat had been represented for a dozen years by another Democrat woman, Debbie Rodella.
The next House District 42 representative will face a mountain of challenges: A gutted state budget, a region hit hard economically by COVID-19 restrictions, a growing housing shortage and a lack of jobs that pay a living wage.
Both candidates say they are ready for the challenges.
On Thursday (Sept. 24) at 6:30 p.m., they’ll answer hard questions about issues impacting the region during a forum livestreamed on the Taos News Facebook page and at taosnews.com.
Linda Calhoun loved working as an emergency room nurse. “I love the adrenaline and the drama,” Calhoun said. She was 23 when she left her native Texas and came to Red River. She intended to work at the hospital in Taos until she realized it was an hour’s drive each way.
Instead she went to work as an EMT, before eventually launching a real estate company in the small mountain village and becoming mayor in 2005.
Her background in nursing means she understood better than many what it meant when a novel coronavirus began making people sick. “That’s why it offends me when people say I don’t understand the science,” she said in a recent interview. “I do.
Calhoun and Red River residents caught flak from people outside of the town who thought they weren’t taking the virus seriously.
Calhoun defends the town. “My businesses did panic on July 2 when the governor came out with new restrictions before the holiday weekend,” she said. “We had a town full of visitors already. We were scrambling trying to keep up with the restrictions.
“It was never true that we exempted people from the quarantine.”
In fact, Calhoun posted a Facebook video six months ago asking second homeowners and visitors to stay home because of the pandemic. “Please be aware that should you come to Red River, you will be required
to quarantine for 14 days,” though she acknowledged later that was impossible to enforce. “We’re asking you to let our small mountain town get through this pandemic. Red River and the Enchanted Circle have very limited resources.”
She said businesses and residents are good about wearing masks and following other protocols. “I hate that people in Taos feel like we didn’t do what we needed to to keep people safe.”
But she strongly believes the state will need to think carefully about how to protect people without sinking the economy. “Bottom line, this virus isn’t going anywhere,” she said. “We are going to have to learn to function in this world.”
Calhoun was raised a Democrat in her Haskall, Texas, hometown. Even once she landed in New Mexico and changed allegiances to the Republican Party, she supported Democrats like the late Sen. Carlos Cisneros and Roberto “Bobby” Gonzales.
She and her husband have a blended family of five grown children and eight grandchildren. Three of their children and three of their grandchildren live in Red River.
She almost didn’t run for the House District 42 seat. Her mom was ill last year and Calhoun made frequent trips back to Texas to help her.
“We kept the road hot between here and there. Texas girls take care of their mommas.”
Her mom, Dorothy Hartsfield, died at home in January. “If she hadn’t died, I wouldn’t be running,” Calhoun said.
Calhoun believes she’s proven she can work well and collaborate with Democrats. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham picked Calhoun to serve on her transition team and economic recovery team.
Red River Mayor and House District 42 candidate Linda Calhoun (R) speaks during a Vida del Norte Coalition meeting in Questa. Vida del Norte works to prevent and reduce youth substance abuse among Northern Taos County communities.
Experience
As mayor for 14 years, she’s learned to navigate the legislative process. She’s overseen millions of dollars in capital outlay funds for Red River including a new wastewater treatment plant. She’s lobbied all the way to the nation’s capital, where President Barack Obama signed a bill that granted 40 acres of Carson National Forest land to Red River for the wastewater treatment plant, a fire training center, a cemetery and a park.
Economy
“Tourism is my passion,” Calhoun said. “We need to expand our tourism.”
Tourism became even more critical for the town after the Molycorp mine closed down in the 1990s.
Tourism was the logical place to build the economy for the little town surrounded by mountains. Calhoun said she never sees tourism going away, even if other industries come in.
“The one thing that would devastate us is a wildfire. It would destroy our ski area, destroy the forest.” In light of that, Calhoun said the region needs to protect forests, expand trails and recreation opportunities.
Beyond tourism, she thinks expanded broadband will attract online businesses and increased attention on outdoor recreation could lead to light manufacturing businesses producing outdoor clothing and other products.
Affordable housing
Calhoun helped oversee the purchase of two hotels in the town that were converted to rentals. Some of the units were set aside to use for victims of domestic violence or law enforcement. She thinks this is a model that could be used elsewhere in the region to ease the housing shortage. “Repurposing buildings into apartments is a perfect way to go,” she said.
Another program she thinks has promise is one in Questa where people with family homes they aren’t using are provided funds to fix the homes and rent them out.
Abortion
If there is a primary reason she is a Republican, this is it. Calhoun opposes abortion in general and late-term abortions specifically.
In part, this is due to her religion. In part, it is due to personal experience. “I have a grandson who was born at 27 weeks. He weighed only 2 pounds. Now he’s in college,” she said.
She can see instances when abortion might be acceptable, such as in the case of incest, rape or to protect the mother’s health.
But ultimately, “I think life starts at conception. That’s just my belief,” Calhoun said.
Unlike some other conservatives though, Calhoun is an advocate for birth control and sex education.