ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - One of New Mexico’s most powerful statewide offices is in play this year as voters go to the polls to pick a new land commissioner.
Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn is not seeking re-election. That has set up a contest among Republican Patrick Lyons, Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard and Libertarian Michael Lucero.
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THE OFFICE:
As head of the State Land Office, the commissioner oversees oil and gas drilling, renewable energy projects and other development on millions of acres of state trust land.
Revenues from monthly oil and gas lease sales and other activities help to fund public schools, higher education, hospitals and infrastructure projects.
Citing the oil boom, the office has said it expects revenues could near the $1 billion mark this fiscal year. This would continue a record-setting pace for the 2018 fiscal year, when earnings neared $107 million.
“While the signs are pointing toward a banner financial year for us, there is a caveat,” Dunn said in a statement. “So much will depend on who the next land commissioner is and what their policy on generating funds for this agency’s beneficiaries is.”
Dunn had said the job is a balancing act of optimizing revenues while protecting the health of the land for future generations.
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THE CANDIDATES:
Lyons knows the office well. A rancher from eastern New Mexico, he served two terms as land commissioner between 2003 and 2010. He was a state senator before that and is now a member of the state Public Regulation Commission.
Lyons has said his top priority would be generating as much revenue as possible in a sustainable way so the state has the resources to fund early childhood education and give teachers raises.
He is among those who oppose tapping the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund - a sort of rainy-day account that has existed for more than a century and has been fueled mainly by oil and gas lease revenues and royalties - to pay for early childhood education.
Lyons has suggested more coordination with the state Environment Department and the Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources to enforce regulations on state trust land. He’s calling for the creation of an environmental advisory board that would be made up of professionals who could make recommendations on how to care for trust lands.
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Garcia Richard is three-term state lawmaker who represents the Los Alamos area. She is the chair of the House Education Committee and works as an administrator with the Pojoaque Valley School District.
Some have criticized Garcia Richard for a lack of experience when it comes to land issues. She argues that her knowledge about the classroom and the needs of the school districts would provide an important perspective for the office because its top priority is raising money for education.
Garcia Richard has slammed Lyons for the support he has received from the oil and gas industry. She has won over environmental groups and others during the campaign by touting renewable energy development.
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Lucero, a fifth-generation rancher, has said that real conservation happens on the ground and can’t be accomplished from inside an office.
Lucero has said he’s running because he’s tired of politicians being elected and forgetting about the needs of the people once they’re in office. He also said those who are elected to public office need to put their politics aside and work with others to do what is best for the state.
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