District 31
William R. Rehm — Republican
Rep. William R. Rehm has represented the Northeast Heights district bounded roughly by Interstate 25 and the Sandias, the county line and Bear Canyon, since 2006. He’s a Highland High and University of Albuquerque grad.
A retired law enforcement officer with experience wearing the uniform of both the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and Albuquerque Police Department, Rehm is best known as a law-and-order candidate. He has tried repeatedly to get his colleagues to adopt a drugged-driving law, usable three-strikes law for violent felons, meaningful habitual offender law, an increase to the statute of limitations on second-degree murder and firearm enhancements that make a gun a “hot potato” for criminals.
Rehm opposes legalized recreational marijuana based on analyses of Colorado and Washington’s jumps in crime, and he believes the state’s new bail amendment must ensure judges are provided with defendants’ past criminal histories.
Rehm would continue pushing his crime initiatives, as well as efforts to keep retirees — especially lab retirees — in New Mexico, business-friendly legislation like right to work and streamlined fingerprinting for professional licenses, and education reform like teaching job skills in night school at state prisons. He supports the accountability in teacher evaluations and merit pay.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Libertarian William Wiley Jr. in the general election this fall.
The Journal endorses William R. Rehm for House District 31 in the Republican primary.