In New Mexico, the lieutenant governor runs on the same ticket as the governor. But the role is much more than stepping in when the governor is absent. Of the many duties of the role, both candidates — Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard and Republican David Gallegos — say the most overlooked duty is being the ombudsman, which involves helping citizens resolve complaints, navigate bureaucratic hurdles, and address grievances with government agencies or organizations.
Garcia Richard said being a better ombudsman means meeting people where they are, literally. She wants to expand the number of lieutenant governor offices from two to four — one for each quadrant of the state — and then spend some time in each one.
“Obviously it would be an increase in budget and staff,” said Garcia Richard, “but I really do see the importance. Now, as our legislators are hiring on district legislative assistants, some of those folks are coming together to hold office hours together. I would love to partner with our legislators, especially in the rural parts of our state, no matter their party.”
David Gallegos wrote in his KUNM candidate guide response that he’d take a business approach to the ombudsman role.
“I would run the ombudsman office like a service business: responsive, accountable, and focused on results,” wrote Gallegos. “Every inquiry would get a case number, a staff member responsible for it, and a follow-up until it's resolved. We would track how long agencies take to respond and report those numbers publicly, so New Mexicans can see which parts of government are working and which aren't.”
The way each candidate responded about the ombudsman role reflected their priorities. For Garcia Richard, a former educator, it’s education.
“My biggest passion for New Mexico and New Mexicans is an improvement of our education system, so that is my number one priority,” said Garcia Richard. “That is my number one passion. That is what I'm the most looking forward to working on.”
Among the ideas she wants to explore is putting a reading coach into each elementary school classroom to help kids master reading — which follows the successful program in Mississippi commonly known as the Mississippi Miracle.
For Gallegos, a former supervisor in the natural gas industry, the priority is business.
“My first priority is bringing business and families back to New Mexico,” he wrote. “Too many of our neighbors have left for Texas and other states in search of better jobs and lower costs. Reversing that is the foundation for everything else.”
The other items in Gallegos’s list are being an ombudsman who will “cut through bureaucracy and get answers,” “public safety,” building “working relationships across the aisle,” and giving “rural and Southern New Mexico a permanent seat at the table.”
Note: KUNM first contacted Gallegos for an audio interview in early September, but he stopped responding about an audio interview shortly after he submitted his written answers to our candidate guide.
