Hard-Working New Mexico Deserves a Governor Who Works for Them.
Once again, New Mexico ranked 49th in the nation — this time by MSN and WalletHub in 2024. It takes effort to fall this far behind, especially as one of the states with the highest tax revenues, thanks to oil and gas. Instead of addressing the root of the problem, our leaders launch campaigns like the Governor’s anti-litter “Breaking Bad” initiative — embracing blight instead of fixing it.
I spoke with thousands of New Mexicans when I ran for U.S. Senate in 2018. Their needs were simple: safe neighborhoods, schools that taught their children reading, writing, and arithmetic, and good-paying jobs to support their families. Compare that to Governor Lujan Grisham’s acceptance of Breaking Bad’s portrayal of New Mexico, crime-ridden, failed schools, and job opportunities that lead to prison.
New Mexicans’ dreams aren’t extravagant — and they’re achievable. If Idaho can break into the top ten, so can we. The categories used to rank states are Healthcare, Education, Economy, Infrastructure, Opportunity, Fiscal Stability, Crime, and Environment. It seems simple: focus on those few categories to lift our state. Instead, the legislature and governor focus on enhancing their power, money, and influence.
Remember when crime could be solved with “Brag It, Not Bag It”
From the Daily Mail 04.09.2025 sending the New Mexico National Guard on to the street of Albuquerque
According to U.S. News, New Mexico has twice the national violent crime rate yet incarcerates at just two-thirds of the national rate. Juvenile incarceration is even lower — just a tenth of the national average. What’s not reported? The money families and businesses spend on private security or their economic loss due to crime. Almost every New Mexican has been a crime victim or knows someone who has.
Albuquerque is now one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., and New Mexico ranks fourth overall for danger. What is our Legislature’s response? Harsher sentences for fentanyl trafficking, new alerts for missing Native Americans, and reforms for school shooting threats and court proceedings for incompetent defendants. None of these will make for safer neighborhoods.
We must repeal the disastrous bail reform law that created a revolving door for dangerous offenders. New Mexicans deserve access to the performance records of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement — so we can hold them accountable. A serious anti-corruption task force, from Governor Richardson’s pay-to-play to the current DUI scandal in Metro Court to former Speaker Sheryl Williams Stapleton’s fraud indictment. Corruption must end.
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Healthcare, The Lost Art of Medicine
New Mexico ranks 38th in healthcare overall, with sub-rankings of 41st in access, 34th in quality, and 37th in public health. That checks out. Many New Mexicans seek medical care out of state, and no one comes here for treatment. Even our only Level 1 trauma center earned failing grades from Leapfrog, a national healthcare quality surveyor.
While our life expectancy is among the nation’s worst, our Legislature passed a psilocybin pilot program, restructured mental health care, expanded oversight of CYFD, and shielded abortion providers from public records. The Governor and Legislature added psychedelic mushrooms to marijuana, beer, wine, liquor, gambling, and sex trafficking as a means of escaping the misery.
But they ignored fundamental reforms. We need medical malpractice reform so doctors can focus on patients, not lawsuits. To compete with other states, we should repeal the gross receipts tax on healthcare. UNM’s medical school should prioritize producing top-tier professional healthcare providers, not more DEI programming that’s failing our residents.
Education
Ex-NM Speaker, Ex-APS Teacher Sheryl Williams Stapleton is getting an education.
Dead last. That’s where U.S. News ranked New Mexico’s K–12 education. Our worst district? Albuquerque Public Schools is home to the thirty-year legislator and APS educator of educators Mimi Stewart, now Senate Pro Tempore. The National Council on Teacher Quality study showed teachers' nagging ignorance of fundamentals has contributed to the historic decline in US math scores.
This year, lawmakers passed policies on cellphone use, school hours, teacher pay, Spanish culture, and tribal regalia at graduation. While failing to address our children’s inability to read, write, or perform mathematics.
If pay raises were Stewart’s best solution for turning around our schools, then it’s time to let parents take their education dollars to the school of their choice.
Leadership
When I began working on construction projects across New Mexico in 1980, the state still had that Wild West grit. When I asked people why New Mexico could never get ahead, the locals would tell me it was the way of the New Mexico culture. I never believed that explanation because New Mexicans consistently vote for leaders who promise a better life.
The problem isn’t our people; it’s the leaders we choose. Too often, we elect flawed figures who come in with promises of a better New Mexico but seek power, money, and status. Some fade away, but others leave a legacy of pain. Of the latter, Bill Richardson, Manny Aragon, and Sheryl Williams Stapleton come to mind.
If we lift this state from the bottom, we need leaders who make the powerful, wealthy, and arrogant uncomfortable. Victor Davis Hanson had a great description of such a leader:
“I tried to use as many examples as possible of the classic Western... The community doesn’t have the skills or the will to solve the problem — so they bring in an outsider. He’s uncouth, his attitude’s rough. He solves the problem, and then they say, ‘It’s better you leave. We feel dirty that we had to call you.’”
New Mexico needs that kind of outsider to set our state right.
