By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Roy, New Mexico has a population smaller than most Rio Rancho neighborhoods. On July 26, it’s set to host nearly the entire Republican statewide ticket.
Rio Rancho resident Nancy Jinks organized the “Meet Your Candidates” forum, securing commitments from:
- Larry Marker — U.S. Senate
- Martin Zamora — Congressional District 3
- Gregg Hull — Governor
- David Gallegos — Lieutenant Governor
- Ramona Goolsby — Secretary of State
- Sam Kane — Attorney General
- Joshua Lawrence — State Auditor
- James Ellison — State Treasurer
- Michael Perry — Commissioner of Public Lands
- Jack Chatfield — District 67 State Representative
State Sen. and Rio Rancho resident Jay Block will moderate.
Jinks called it exceptionally rare to have candidates for nearly every statewide and congressional office in one room outside of a state convention, especially in a town this size.
Jinks has personal ties to the area: her father’s family ranched near Roy for more than a century, and she spent a year of school there before her family moved away. She’s using the event to double as a push to reactivate the long-dormant Harding County Republican Party.
“I feel like the eastern side of the state is not addressed enough,” Jinks said, arguing that rural New Mexicans rarely get the chance to hear from statewide candidates without traveling to Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces or Gallup.
She said the event is candidate-focused, not a party pep rally, and she wants attendees to judge candidates on their actual qualifications rather than website bios. Jinks said she isn’t profiting from organizing it and sees it as a way of “paying back” the community that shaped her.
Jinks said the effort raises an obvious question for voters closer to home: if Jinks could pull together this slate in a town the size of Roy, why hasn’t a comparable forum happened in Rio Rancho or Albuquerque?
“Meet Your Candidates” Republican Forum
- Date: July 26, 2026
- Time: Noon – 5:30 p.m.
- Location: Harding County Fairgrounds – Community Room, 557 Wagon Mound Highway, Roy, NM 87743
- Moderator: State Sen. Jay C. Block
- Organizer: Nancy Jinks