SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Deb Haaland, who championed conservation and clean energy during her tenure as Interior secretary, has launched her Democratic campaign for governor of New Mexico, the nation’s No. 2 oil production state.
Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo and the nation’s first Native American cabinet secretary under President Joe Biden could be the first Native American woman to serve as governor of any state. New Mexico has 23 federally recognized tribes, including large portions of the Navajo Nation, as well as land holdings of the Fort Sill Apache. Scott Forrester confirmed his hiring as campaign manager on Monday.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham terms out of office at the end of 2026. Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich ruled himself out of the governor’s race last week, and no Republican candidates have initiated a run.
Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox
See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
The governor’s office in New Mexico has flipped between Democratic and Republican control since the 1980s. President Donald Trump has gained popularity in New Mexico while still losing three elections in the heavily Hispanic and Native American border state.
But Democrats have consolidated control over every elected statewide office, all congressional and U.S. Senate seats, and broad majorities in the state House and Senate.
Winning the top state office would put Haaland — a former congresswoman, state party chairwoman and backroads political canvasser for President Barack Obama — at the helm of a financial windfall from the nation’s fastest growing zone for oil production, the Permian Basin that overlaps portions of New Mexico and western Texas.
Haaland hasn’t been shy about voicing opposition to unfettered oil and gas development and support for the Green New Deal, the sweeping proposals meant to move the United States rapidly to low-carbon energy.
Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico have carved out a progressive framework for investing and redistributing the state’s fiscal windfall from oil and natural gas to help underwrite everything from free meals at all public schools, to zero-tuition college and trade schools, discount childcare and tax incentives geared toward families with children.
New Mexico’s annual oil production recently surpassed that of North Dakota, the home of Trump’s nominee to lead the Interior Department, Doug Burgum.
The Republican nominee for governor in 2022 — former television meteorologist Mark Ronchetti — proposed a different approach when it came to the state’s oil and natural gas income — individual rebates along with educational stipends for families aimed at improving early literacy. He lost to Lujan Grisham in 2022 by a 6-point margin.
Concerns about crime and homelessness are at the top of Lujan Grisham’s current legislative agenda amid a proliferation of homeless encampments in cities along the upper Rio Grande and sustained high rates of violent and property crimes.
___
Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico
Read the full article here
