Larrañaga’s 24 years in Legislature comes to end

SANTA FE — State Rep. Larry Larrañaga — a leading voice on budget legislation — quietly ended nearly 24 years of service in the Legislature this week.

Larrañaga, an Albuquerque Republican, submitted his resignation letter to the Secretary of State’s Office on Monday, about three months before the end of his term.

He had already announced his plans to forgo a re-election campaign — citing family health matters — and the state GOP replaced him on the ballot.

Larrañaga, a former Cabinet secretary who won election to the House in 1994, is a former chairman of the influential House Appropriations and Finance Committee. He won approval in 2017 for legislation that created a “rainy day” fund, into which the state deposits extra money when the economy is strong.

The goal is to help smooth out the “boom and bust” nature of New Mexico’s budget cycle, with revenue that fluctuates wildly depending on oil production.

Competing to fill Larrañaga’s open seat in the Nov. 6 election are Republican Robert Godshall, a retired federal immigration officer, and Bill Pratt, a retired physician.

TAX RETURNS: October is turning into tax season.

Republican congressional candidate Janice Arnold-Jones released her state and federal tax returns on Tuesday as a show of transparency, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Pearce has said he’ll release his later this month.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michelle Lujan Grisham already released her returns earlier this summer.

Arnold-Jones, who’s running in the 1st Congressional District, released the 2017 returns she filed with her husband, John L. Jones, a candidate for the state House.

“Transparency should not be just another talking point,” Arnold-Jones said.

Their federal return shows an adjusted gross income of more than $180,000 from wages, pensions or annuities, and other sources.

TV INTERVIEWS: KNME-TV and New Mexico PBS, Channel 5, will be airing one-on-one interviews this month with candidates for governor, senate and Congress.

The gubernatorial candidates will start the series, with interviews at 6 p.m. Sunday.

REGISTER TO VOTE: New Mexico has about 1.25 million registered voters, and it isn’t too late to make yourself one of them.

Visit NMvote.org by Tuesday next week to register or update your registration in time for the general election.