Doug Turner is in his second run to be governor of New Mexico, facing off against two other Republicans in the June 2 primary. He was the party’s state director and worked as campaign manager for former Gov. Gary Johnson. But he told Nash Jones on New Mexico in Focus that his job running a strategic communications firm has prepared him well to be governor.
DOUG_TURNER: What our company has done over the years, and the issues that we've worked on, I think are highly relevant to the issues that our next governor is going to be facing.
NMPBS: How so?
TURNER: We have worked on, and I have personally worked on, school choice issues for at least 15 years, and I'm a strong advocate for school choice and charter schools. We have worked managing public policy issues that impact oil and gas, utilities, power lines, wind energy, solar, mining, so we have been really deeply involved in these issues at the state level and at the local level. And so I think, from a perspective of being prepared for what a governor will face, I don't think there's any candidate running ,Democrat or Republican, in this governor's race that has more experience, practical on the ground experience, in this state than I do on these on these many issues,
NMPBS: You previously served as the board chair for the public charter schools of New Mexico, where, according to your campaign, you fought for parental choice, higher standards, and accountability. How would those, how would those policy priorities show up in the New Mexico public education system if you were governor?
TURNER: The state right now has a failing public education system, and we rank at number 50th in the nation, but it's not new. We've actually ranked 50th in the nation for about 30 years. And so there has to be some fundamental changes, I think, that occur across public education. This doesn't mean that there aren't great schools in New Mexico. There are great schools Rio Rancho Public Schools is great, and the superintendent there has just crushed it. But we currently move kids through our public education system, grade to grade to grade, without ensuring that they have the skills necessary at whatever grade level they're in. So, for example, we currently have 47% of our third graders who can't read at third grade level. That's pretty shameful. You know, our biggest competitor over the years, in terms of who is doing the worst in education, is Mississippi. Today, Mississippi has enacted some fundamental changes, ending social promotion. They probably hold back 10% of their third grade graders to make sure that they have the skills to move forward today. Mississippi is that maybe 15 or 16 in the nation, so it's really a miracle. We need to hold these schools accountable. I think if we have more charters and more school public school options for kids and parents, you increase competition among those schools, and ideally drive them for to higher performance.
NMPBS: Alongside education, jobs are one of your top issues. What's your plan to increase the number and the quality of careers available to New Mexicans?
TURNER: I think that there has been a tendency to look forwhat I call these sort of unicorn employers, the next Intel, that will hire three or 4000 people, and I think that's all fine and well. You know, we trip over the luck log every once in a while and we get something juicy. But the reality is that most of the employers in the state are companies like mine. There are small companies where adding one person across 1000 companies my size is a lot of jobs, like it's consequential. And I think that a lot more attention needs to be paid to what small companies need, whether it is someone holding their hand as they walk through, you know, the quagmire of bureaucracy to get something done, or you know, fast track permitting, for example, or someone holding your hand while you get your brand new restaurant kitchen permitted. I mean, small businesses need those resources, you know. My firm did an industrial revenue bond two or three years ago to build our offices downtown. Well, apparently today I learned yesterday that to do that now requires that you know you have contractors that are paying a prevailing wage. You can't just go bid and find the best product for the best service for the best price. That, in my mind, is counter to what the things that we ought to be doing to support small businesses.
Early voting for the primary continues through Saturday and Election Day is June 2nd. For the first time, independent and unaffiliated voters can participate in the primary. Onsite voter registration is also available.