As the legislative session approaches, the New Mexico Republican Party has called on Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to fill the vacant Senate District 33 seat by the end of the week. This seat has remained unoccupied since Republican Senator Nicholas Paul resigned due to health issues in October. The district covers parts of Chaves, Otero, and Lincoln counties, and the party is pushing for swift action to ensure representation.
Local county commissioners have nominated three candidates to succeed Paul: Mark Fischer, the chairman of the Lincoln County Commission; Rex Wilson, a former Lincoln County commissioner; and John Block, a Republican state House member from Alamogordo. In a statement, the GOP expressed concerns that any nomination made by the governor will come too late to adequately prepare the selected representative for the upcoming legislative session.
The party’s news release emphasized, “Whoever is nominated to fill this vacancy will be completely disadvantaged in their efforts to represent their constituents in southern New Mexico.” They criticized the governor for delaying the nomination process, particularly given the impending deadline for capital outlay requests for the 2026 session, which is set for October 30, 2023.
Leticia Muñoz, the executive director of the state party, stated, “There’s really no excuse for the governor to stall this nomination. This will hurt the people of SD-33 if they do not have representation by the capital outlay deadline.” The GOP accused Governor Lujan Grisham of engaging in “political games” that could disadvantage their caucus ahead of what they claim is the most significant legislative session in the state’s history.
In a related political landscape, the campaign committee for U.S. House Democrats recently highlighted Representative Gabe Vasquez‘s efforts to combat the use of drones by criminal cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border. Vasquez, known for his moderate stance among New Mexico’s three Democratic House members, represents a district that extends from the Albuquerque area to the border. He won elections in both 2022 and 2024, despite the district’s narrow leaning toward Republican gubernatorial and presidential candidates.
Vasquez’s race is becoming increasingly competitive, with several Republican candidates entering the fray and a Democratic primary challenger approaching from the left. In support of Vasquez, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee emphasized his commitment to addressing cartel threats through bipartisan legislation. Spokesperson Anna Elsasser remarked, “Gabe Vasquez is taking action with real, bipartisan solutions to get ahead of cartel threats — proving that he will always lead on defending national security and keeping border communities safe.”
In an unrelated development, the Santa Fe County Clerk’s Office recently announced the winner of a vote to name its high-speed ballot sorting machine. The machine, which is utilized for processing and tracking mail ballots, will be named Poll McCartney, having secured a narrow victory over the runner-up, Count Factula, with a final tally of 20 to 16. The machine’s name was decided through ranked choice voting, a process that has been employed in prior elections in Santa Fe.
These developments highlight the ongoing political dynamics in New Mexico, where the implications of vacant seats and upcoming elections continue to shape the landscape. As the legislative session nears, the pressure mounts on Governor Lujan Grisham to act swiftly in appointing a successor for Senate District 33, ensuring that constituents have representation during critical decision-making periods.
