Senate District 9, which covers Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, has four candidates running in this primary – two Democrats and two Republicans. They’re vying to replace one-term Democratic Senator Brenda McKenna after a tight race back in 2020.
Cindy Nava, a former DACA recipient who received her citizenship 3 years ago returned to New Mexico after being a presidential appointee who worked in the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department to run for Senate District 9.
Nava said that her work in Washington, as a policy advocate, and her lived experience growing up as an undocumented immigrant will help her, especially around issues like affordable housing.
"To have a discussion about how we open access to first generation homebuyers, first time homebuyers, young homebuyers because that changes your life. It changes the way that you build wealth, it creates opportunities" Nava said.
Nava said that District 9 is extremely diverse and fully funding public education is a priority. She hopes to fill the gaps in order to improve teachers’ salaries and ensure the implementation of the Martinez/Yazzie ruling.
"We know that quality instruction is the number one determinant of educational success for students. So, we also need to ensure students have culturally competent instruction that meets those needs of our marginalized students and that also promotes the equity lens across demographics" said Nava.
Nava is supported by the current incumbent for Senate district 9, Brenna McKenna. If she wins here and in the general election, Nava would be one of the first former DACA recipients to hold an elected office.
Heather Balas is a long time public policy advocate. She spent 15 years with the organization New Mexico First and now works as vice president of the Election Reformers Network that aims to strengthen American democracy.
Balas said through her work on education reform, she understands listening to teachers is not only important for retention but also in recruiting the next generation of educators.
"These second and third generation teachers said, I’m discouraging my own child from careers in education because New Mexico isn’t taking care of our teachers" said Balas.
Both Balas and Nava are endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers.
Professional shortages are a priority for Balas as she’s also focusing on the lack of health care professionals here, resulting in longer wait times for crucial appointments.
Balas said that nurses and doctors are leaving the state because of a lack of resources to provide quality care and more financial opportunities taking them to neighboring states.
"I think we need to continue to be looking at the incentive packages that we can utilize so that we keep our existing professionals here and they are not inclined to jump ship and move to Arizona, Colorado, or Texas where they on paper anyway can earn more" said Balas.
Balas said if we prioritize these issues and diversify our economy, the young people she has heard from who are concerned about their career paths will stay in New Mexico after earning their degrees.
Each candidate has raised a bit over $104,000 and each has a number of endorsements from sitting and former lawmakers.
Audrey Trujillo will be running for the Republican slot this primary election. She was a candidate in the 2022 election for Secretary of State after expressing uncertainties concerning the 2020 presidential election.
Trujillo said she was and still is motivated by working towards transparency in government.
"Voters should have access to all dealings and don’t make them be the enemy because they’re not the enemy, they are our constituents and we need to respect that. There’s a lot of things our taxpayer money pays for and we want to know where that money is going" Trujillo said.
Trujillo also finds the cycle of violent crime is a reflection of not enforcing the laws we already have while also needing more stringent laws. But she said we also need to deal with the issue of addiction.
"It needs to be where it deters crime, instead of incentivizing the crime. We gotta have intervention programs. We need to have facilities and things that tailor to getting those people better, that are based on addiction instead of just putting them all in jail" said Trujillo.
Trujillo has raised about $34,000 of which about $21,000 came from her. Endorsements include the NRA and Mental Health Now. KUNM did reach out to Republican candidate Frida Vasquez, but did not hear back from her. The primary election is on Tuesday, June 4th.
