Issues

Constituent Service

I’ve spent my entire life bringing people together to solve problems. As your next Lt. Governor, I will work to be a hub of information and assistance to everyone who interacts with state government. I know that New Mexicans are some of the hardest working people in the country and I want to spend every day promoting our workers, our industry, and our wonderful way of life. Constituent service will be an important focus of the Lt. Governor’s Office under my administration, ensuring a better New Mexico for all of our families.

Ethics

As your next Lt. Governor, I will be your advocate for openness and transparency in the legislative process. To foster this, I will champion live and archived broadcasting of all legislative affairs, so that every New Mexican can participate in the legislative process.

New Mexicans are increasingly concerned that corruption is a statewide problem. As a lawyer, I’ve spent my professional life adhering to a code of ethics that binds me to work honestly and ethically on behalf of my clients, many of whom have been local governments and state agencies.

We all have seen that money can corrupt public servants. As your Lt. Governor, you can rest easy knowing that I support an open and transparent government -- one that serves all of our people, not just those who contribute to elected officials.

To that end, I will work for the following:

• Strict lobbyist disclosure standards.
• Whistleblower protection in state government.
• Comprehensive electronic filing of campaign reports that the public can access and search.
• A new, powerful ethics commission to investigate ethics code violations and possible criminal acts.
• Requiring local government contract bidders to fully report all campaign contributions to all public officials.

Education

No other issue is as important to me as strengthening education. I’m a father to a wonderful boy and a husband to an incredible public school science teacher. An investment in New Mexico’s schools is an investment in our young people and essential to our economic growth in the future. Without the great education I received in New Mexico’s public schools, I would not have been able to be the first in my family to attend college. As Lt. Governor, I will make New Mexico’s children and their education my top priority.

As a former Chair of the New Mexico College Success Network, I know that early childhood education, primary school, and every grade leading up to college is critical to each young person’s future. With each new high school and college graduate, our state’s future is brighter. Our schools and our students are essential for a vibrant and innovative future New Mexico. That’s why times of financial hardship are precisely the wrong time to shortchange our children through their classrooms. I will work with the Governor and the legislature to strengthen New Mexico’s schools. My top educational priorities are to:

• Increase teacher pay;
• Implement stronger incentives for good teachers to work in rural areas;
• Reduce class sizes by building new schools and training more teachers; and
• Strengthen the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and math fields (STEM) to make New Mexico more attractive to the next generation of high-tech and echo-friendly green employers.

Healthcare

I will work to assure that all New Mexicans -- our workforce, our elderly and our children --have access to affordable, quality health care. No matter what new system is established by the federal government, New Mexico will be left to implement the programs at the local level. As your next Lt. Governor, I am committed to making the transition as effective and efficient as possible. Healthcare is a basic right, and should be made available to all - free from government red tape and overly burdensome costs.

Energy and the Environment

I will be our state’s greatest champion for environmental protection and safe, clean, renewable energy development. Building our capacity to create clean energy without impacting our precious environment must be a priority for the new administration. We must conserve resources for future generations and we must do our part in the battle against global warming, but we need to do our best to do both in ways that create new jobs for New Mexicans at the state and local levels. I commit to work with the next Governor to realize an energy-independent future for our country with New Mexico as its leader. Our state is blessed with unusually abundant wind and solar resources and we need to do all we can to turn those resources into clean energy in a way that generates new jobs for New Mexicans.

Economy

As your next Lt. Governor, I will dedicate myself to creating jobs in New Mexico. State employees, small business owners, and hard working New Mexicans of all types deserve the same opportunity for economic prosperity.

Working with the Governor and our state resources to grow our economy and keep jobs in New Mexico is my top economic priority. The next administration will need to plan soundly, manage the budget wisely, and consider innovative solutions to address shrinking tax revenues by working with other state and local governments as well as development organizations and businesses.

Keeping New Mexico’s high bond rating is key for important projects like school renovations and infrastructure maintenance. Maintaining our good credit will be an important goal of my office as your next Lt. Governor. High bond ratings help us ensure that we can finance our public projects without wasting taxpayer dollars on excessive interest payments. Keeping interest payments low will reward our state with tens of millions of saved dollars.

I will work with our legislature, business leaders, and schools to make sure our state is prepared for the jobs of the future. I’ve traveled all across the state and promoted a pro-growth, pro-union agenda. I will assist business and direct state government to do its best to attract and promote companies on the cutting edge of renewable energy, technology, health sciences, and more. I’ll also devote my time and energy to protecting those industries and jobs that already call New Mexico home and are already the engines of our economy.