Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard has snagged another four years as New Mexico’s commissioner of public lands, according to a race call by the Associated Press. She’ll be in charge again of managing state land, its leases and mineral rights.
Garcia Richard held 54.9% of the vote, while her opponent Republican Jefferson Byrd pulled 45.1% of the vote as of early Wednesday morning.
In her first term, Garcia Richard leased over 100,000 acres of land for oil and gas, leading to record-breaking production numbers. The oil and gas industry supplies nearly a third of New Mexico’s budget most years.
Garcia Richard has also touted her clean energy efforts, tripling renewable energy production in her first term. Knowing that fossil fuel resources won’t be around forever, she said she’ll keep working in office to diversify the state’s revenue sources.
