The mayor of the town of Edgewood, Republican Ken Brennan, is challenging incumbent Democratic Representative Matthew McQueen for House District 50, south of Santa Fe.
In April last year, Edgewood's commissioners, including Mayor Brennan, voted to join a handful of other municipalities in passing an ordinance citing a century-old federal law to restrict access to abortion. The ordinances are blocked while the Supreme Court considers the case.
Mayor Brennan said he does not regret voting for the rule, which would prevent the mailing of medications used in abortion.
"They can be very dangerous if they're not taken properly," he told KUNM.
The abortion pill mifepristone has been approved for use by the Food and Drug administration for more than 20 years with very low instances of complications. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected arguments this year that the pill is unsafe.
Mayor Brennan now says he would support a bill allowing abortion up to 20 weeks of gestation.
Last month, another town commissioner in Edgewood, Stephen Murillo, proposed a proclamation celebrating what he called the Christian heritage of the United States. That proposal was tabled but Mayor Brennan said it has some merits.
"When you start to forget where you came from, that's when society starts to have problems," he said.
His opponent Rep. McQueen, a lawyer, is critical.
"It's still entirely inappropriate," he told KUNM. "I mean, it was a resolution promoting specifically Christianity, and it is, in my opinion, unconstitutional." He cited the First Amendment which says that the government cannot establish a religion.
Rep. McQueen echoed the sentiments of some Edgewood residents that the town commission should address things like roads and sewers.
"It's unfortunate that the town of Edgewood is doing these things," he said. "I think they're very divisive. I think they're making it clear that not everyone is welcome in Edgewood, which is really unfortunate. It's a colossal waste of taxpayer time and money."
Rep. McQueen is chair of the legislature's Water and Natural Resources Committee and said while the state isn't going to stop extracting fossil fuels soon, it should get more money for them and work on transitioning to renewables.
"We have tremendous solar and wind resources," he said. "Just like we have tremendous oil and gas resources, so we're working very hard on that. I personally, last year, sponsored the bill to raise the oil and gas royalty rate on our state trust lands to a fair market rate."
Mayor Brennan is a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer who used to work on wind turbines but says wind power won't solve everything
"The oil and gas that we have, I mean, that's, that's what's funding the state," he said.
But he does support measures to improve regulation of oil companies.
On other issues, Mayor Brennan added that he wants to prioritize education, specifically the teaching of math. Rep. McQueen said that he wants to professionalize the legislature, which is one of the only state lawmaking bodies where representatives are not paid a salary.
According to the state Campaign Finance System, Rep. McQueen has raised $62,549.89, while Mayor Brennan has raised $18,559.56.
This story has been updated to correct a mistake in Mayor Brennan's job history
