National Guard ex-leader seeks Pearce’s seat
Salas makes bid for Republican nomination for U.S. House position
The former leader of the New Mexico National Guard is running for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce’s seat in Congress.
In the latest twist in the Republican primary for the conservative-leaning district that sprawls across Southern New Mexico, Andrew Salas has entered the race to succeed Pearce as the GOP congressman makes a bid for governor.
Salas’ 37-year career in the armed forces could be a boost in a district that includes military installations such as White Sands Missile Range. But the race for the Republican nomination is wide open, and Democrats are aiming to flip the district from red to blue.
A resident of Bernardo and the father of five grown children, Salas graduated from Belen High School, attended Chapman College in California and enlisted in the New
Mexico Air National Guard in 1981.
He worked as a software engineer before serving full time in the National Guard and earning a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Salas, 58, rose to the rank of brigadier general in 2012 and took charge of the state’s national guard, leading the force until August. He remains a guardsman.
Salas said that if he were elected, he would work to build on industry drawn to the district by its military installations, a cornerstone of Southern New Mexico’s economy.
“I want to take advantage of that and build on that,” he said.
But as a congressman from a district on the border with Mexico, he also could be a particularly influential voice on border security and immigration.
Salas said he would support strengthening security on the border but, like Pearce and members of Congress around the Southwest, said he would not necessarily support a wall along its entire 2,000 miles.
“A physical barrier, sure, where it makes sense,” he said.
But other sections of the border, Salas added, might not be suited for constructing a physical barrier like a wall or fence, as President Donald Trump has insisted.
This is Salas’ first run for political office, though he said he “has no political ambitions.” But his wife of 35 years, Martha Salas, is chairwoman of the Socorro County Board of Commissioners.
No front-runner seems to have emerged in the Republican Party primary.
State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn surprised many observers by dropping out of the race last week. Still in the running are state Rep. Yvette Herrell, former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman and Carlsbad pharmacist Jack Volpato.
Stretching from Hobbs to the Bootheel, the district has more registered Democrats than Republicans. Trump won 50 percent of the vote there last year — hardly a landslide in a district that has been represented by a GOP congressman for all but two years since 1983. This has buoyed hopes among Democrats who aim to win the district in 2018. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has named the seat as one of several it will target next year.
The Democratic Party primary also remains unsettled, however. In the running are lawyer David Baake, health clinic administrator Ron Fitzherbert, college instructor Madeline Hildebrandt and retired pharmaceutical industry executive Tony Martinez.
Either way, Salas said, the district will lean to the right.
“A conservative candidate will appeal to voters whether the candidate’s a Republican or a Democrat,” he said.