New Mexico’s GOP leaders won’t seek re-election

SANTA FE, N.M. — The topranked Republicans in the New Mexico House and Senate won’t seek re-election this year as their party seeks a stronger footing in the Democrat-led Legislature.

Senate Republicans are reckoning with the first election since a redistricting plan from Democrats merged Gop-led districts.

Senate Republican leader Greg Baca of Belen said his decision to leave the Senate by year’s end was informed by conversations with his family, prayer and attention to new political boundaries adopted by the Democrat-led Legislature in 2021.

“Careful observers of the progressive plan to pit two Hispanic Republicans against each other through redistricting may have seen this coming,” said Baca in a statement, while endorsing Republican state Sen. Joshua Sanchez of Bosque in the merged district. “In short, I refuse to allow the radical left to pit brother against brother.”

House minority leader T. Ryan Lane of Aztec also chose not to seek re-election, saying he wants to spend more time with his family.

Lane, an attorney who runs a craft ice cream store with his wife, said Republicans are well-positioned to gain seats in the House.

“I think the people of New Mexico are waking up to the fact that progressive politics are why New Mexico is consistently last,” he said. “I feel like I’ve left my caucus in the House Republicans to be positioned well for success moving forward.”

Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-1 in the state Senate, amid a wave of retirement announcements that could tilt the partisan balance next year. In the House, Democrats currently have a 25-15 seat advantage after winning back the House majority in 2016. The entire Legislature is up for election in November.