By Lauren Lifke
Tijeras village councilors and cousins Matt Armenta and Johnathan Ortiz overtook their opponents on Election Day, holding onto their seats and beating out former mayor Gloria Chavez.
The two were born and raised in Tijeras, and their families have resided in the area for generations. Ortiz said he was appointed to the city council in 2019, when he had no previous experience. Armenta is Ortiz’s cousin and one of his best friends, he said. After Ortiz’s appointment, Armenta ran for council while Ortiz ran for reelection, and the pair won.
“Everybody gets along very well at our council, where we have similar visions,” Ortiz said. “Our biggest thing is trying to protect our water, and we want responsible economic growth.”
In their time on the village council so far, the pair launched an annual Earth Day cleanup and summer concert series.
Ortiz said he was intimidated to run against opponents Gloria Chavez and Joseph Patron, who have roots in the Tijeras government going back decades, Ortiz said — including Chavez’s 20-year tenure as the mayor, which ended in 2020.
“Personally, I know how much (Chavez) has done for the community,” Ortiz said. “So to beat somebody who has been here for so long — I was a little bit intimidated, personally.”
He said he and Armenta have a lot of respect for the opposition, and the pair put in the work to win.
The campaign was centered around positivity, Ortiz said. It also centered around youth and schools, and Ortiz said getting youth involved in the community has helped his campaign stand out.
“A lot of our success was due to just being positive people, and the positivity that we ran through our campaign and we’re bringing to the community,” Ortiz said. “We’re trying to lift people up. There’s enough negativity in this world.”
In his time as councilor so far, he said the learning curve has been his biggest challenge. Going from being a citizen to an elected official introduced hurdles that he and Armenta are more prepared for now.
