After 21 years, Hatch mayor plans to end his political career

HATCH — On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Andy Nuñez, the 85-year-old mayor of Hatch, made no bones about not wearing a mask in the village offices, despite New Mexico’s indoor masking mandate for public spaces.

“I never wore the damn thing — unless I had to,” he laughed, with a mischievous smile that crinkles his entire face and turns up the ends of his distinctive mustache.

For more than 20 years in New Mexico politics, Nuñez has gone his own way.

Since winning his first elected office in 2000 — representing New Mexico’s 36th district in the state House of Representatives — he has served as a Democrat, an independent and finally as a Republican. In Santa Fe, he tussled with House leadership and his own party. During his first term in the Legislature, he won a seat on Hatch’s board of trustees and simultaneously held local and state office.

He summed up his decision to enter politics at age 64 in simple terms: “I didn’t like what my representative was doing, so I ran and beat him.” He defeated Republican E.G. Smokey Blanton by 34 votes and held the seat for 14 years.

Looking back over 21 years in multiple offices, the highlights Nuñez cited included his six-year drive to repeal a state law allowing applicants to obtain driver’s licenses without documenting U.S. citizenship, arguing that the privilege was being exploited by criminals. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez signed a compromise bill he co-sponsored in 2016.

He also sought funds to repair damage in his community from the disastrous Placitas Arroyo flood of 2006, and 15 years later, as mayor, he is still working on replacing a bridge that once stood on Canal Street. The bridge, which collected debris and contributed to flood damage in town, was later removed.

He expressed satisfaction over the village’s pact with the Elephant Butte Irrigation District to maintain the arroyo, but he acknowledged flood trauma lingers in

Hatch: “Some people are scared to death every time it rains,” he said.

Nuñez expressed no regrets about another conflict that rocked his political career: In 2011, he supported a leadership challenge against the late House Speaker Ben Luján, a Democrat from Nambé, backing fellow Doña Ana County Democrat Joe Cervantes (now a state Senator) instead.

After voting “present” in the leadership election, Nuñez was removed as chairman of the House agriculture committee, and he later dropped his Democratic affiliation.

He ran for reelection as an independent in 2012 but came in at a distant third place behind Democrat Phillip Archuleta, who won the seat, and Republican Mike Tellez. Nuñez returned in 2014 and handily defeated Archuleta — this time, as a Republican.

He then joined a new Republican majority in the House, which earned him the unusual distinction of serving among majorities even after switching parties.

During that final term in the Legislature, after Hatch Mayor Judd Nordyke died in 2013, Nuñez was appointed to succeed him. He won the office in his own right the following year with 61 percent of the vote.

In 2016, Nuñez lost the House seat to Democrat Nathan Small as he defended himself against allegations that he had mishandled campaign funds during his years as a legislator. He denied the claims and no charges were filed.

“I didn’t enjoy those last few years,” Nuñez admitted.

Since then, Nuñez has concentrated on being mayor, winning reelection against three challengers in 2018. While the office carries a four-year term, he faced an election this year because of reforms passed by the state Legislature in 2018 enabling consolidated county elections.

In the Nov. 2 election, Nuñez narrowly lost to Trustee James “Slim” Whitlock by seven votes, according to unofficial results. His term ends Dec. 31, and while Nuñez indicated he would work all the way through then, he told the Las Cruces Sun-News his 21-year run in politics was over.