By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Roy, New Mexico has fewer residents than most Rio Rancho neighborhoods. On July 26, it hosted nearly the entire Republican statewide ticket anyway.
Rio Rancho resident Nancy Jinks organized the “Meet Your Candidates” forum at the Harding County Fairgrounds, securing commitments from U.S. Senate candidate Larry Marker, Congressional District 3 candidate Martin Zamora, gubernatorial candidate and former Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, Lt. Gov. candidate David Gallegos, Secretary of State candidate Ramona Goolsby, Attorney General candidate Sam Kane, State Auditor candidate Joshua Lawrence, State Treasurer candidate Jim Ellison, Commissioner of Public Lands candidate Michael Perry and District 67 state Rep. Jack Chatfield. State Sen. Jay Block, also a Rio Rancho resident, moderated.
Rare air for rural NM
Jinks called it exceptionally rare to see candidates for nearly every statewide and congressional office in one room outside a state convention — rarer still in a town this size. “I feel like the eastern side of the state is not addressed enough,” she said, arguing rural New Mexicans rarely get a shot at hearing from statewide candidates without driving to Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces or Gallup.
Crime and education dominate
Chatfield pointed to New Mexico’s “catch and release” system, arguing repeat offenders too often avoid jail. Gallegos noted the state has increased education funding 60% while remaining near the bottom nationally, and pushed for accountability over new spending. Hull, campaigning on his record as a mayor, argued the state’s “one-size-fits-all” approach fails rural communities and pledged to work directly with mayors, county commissioners and pueblos rather than dictate policy from Santa Fe. Kane, running for Attorney General, said fentanyl trafficking is driving much of the state’s crime and called for closer coordination between state and federal law enforcement. Lawrence, the auditor candidate, said New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department would be a top audit priority given years of child-death scrutiny.
Water and energy take center stage
Zamora, a farmer and rancher, said federal one-size-fits-all farm policy has hurt New Mexico agriculture and pointed to worsening drought as a defining issue for his district. Marker, the Senate candidate, called for aggressive desalination of brackish and produced water and argued the federal “Nixon Corridor” transmission project — which he said traces to 2005 legislation granting eminent domain authority — should be curtailed by Congress. He also tied wildfire risk to restrictions on grazing and timber management. Perry, running for Land Commissioner, said whoever controls water ultimately controls the land, and floated partnering with Israeli water-recycling technology to help drought-proof the state’s agriculture and ranching industries.
Election integrity and transparency
Goolsby, the Secretary of State candidate, called for greater transparency around election administration, including a public-facing portal modeled on the state’s existing Sunshine Portal. Ellison, running for Treasurer, was pressed on transparency beyond standard reporting requirements and said his office’s core duty is safeguarding the state’s working capital while it remains available and earns a return.
The pointed question
Jinks framed the event as candidate-focused rather than a party pep rally, saying she wants attendees judging candidates on qualifications rather than website bios. She also raised a question aimed squarely at bigger cities: if she could pull this slate together in a town the size of Roy, why hasn’t a comparable forum happened in Rio Rancho or Albuquerque?