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Clif Perkins, 101 and still going strong 

Michael Smith
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Clif Perkins, 101 and still going strong 

Story & Photos by: Dave Shabaz, Publisher

 

   Last Monday, on Veterans Day, 101-year-old Lt. Col. Clifton Perkins of Artesia was honored with an award named for another Artesia war hero who lived to be 101, Lt. Col. Charles “Chuck” Joy.

 

  Artesia residents turned out for the ceremony honoring Lt. Col. Perkins and featuring presentation of the Lt. Col. Charles “Chuck” Joy Award at the War Memorial at Baish Park. The award was given by Boy Scout Troop 228 of Artesia.

 

Perkins turned 101 years of age last May. His dedication to his country spanned over three decades in the Army Air Corps and The National Guard.

 

“Clif Perkins exemplifies the values of dedication and service we strive to instill in our scouts,” said Jeremy Kern, scoutmaster of Troop 228. “His commitment to both community and country makes him an inspiring role model for our youth, and we’re honored to recognize him this Veterans Day.”

 

Perkins is also known locally for opening well-known local landmark restaurant La Fonda in 1965 along with his parents, BJ and Otiska Perkins.

 

Chuck Joy was not originally from Artesia but was a longtime resident. He served in World War II and flew over 50 missions with the Army Air Corps in a B-24 Liberator. He passed away at the age of 101 in January 2022.

 

Perkins was born in Pasadena, California, on May 30, 1923. He moved to Artesia when he was 6 years old and in 1943 graduated from Artesia High School. He joined the Army Air Corps, now the United States Air Force, at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The Army Air Corps decided Clif had a proficiency for engineering and he began a 31-year military career that would take him around the world. He spent 10-years in the Air Force and Army and 21-years in The National Guard.

 

     Clif’s technical expertise began with hands-on training with the legendary B-17 bomber at Boeing’s Seattle plant. His dedication and proficiency soon led him to operational roles in Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.

 

     In one of his voyages aboard the USS General Mann, Clif recalls navigating the Atlantic Ocean, “zigzagging” through dangerous waters as a protective measure against enemy submarines. The trip was long and arduous. The route took the ship through the Rock of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Suez Canal before reaching Bombay, India. The journey then continued by train to Calcutta, where the conditions were challenging, he said. Clif recalled traveling on open rail cars and living on sea rations – “kinda like popcorn,” he said.

 

     Clif’s courage shone during missions in the China-Burma-India theater as he flew C-47 transports over “The Hump,” a perilous route across the Himalayas. Stationed in Kweiyang, China, he eventually qualified to fly P-51 Mustangs due to a pilot shortage and played a critical role in protecting the Burma Trail, ensuring that vital supplies reached their destinations.

 

Clif’s Mustang was called the Queen of Hearts and displayed matching nose art. He spent a total of three years in China.

 

“I’ve been around the world and the people in China truly honored Americans,” he said.

 

     In Indochina, the bitter cold tested both man and machine. Cliff and his fellow airmen displayed ingenuity by setting barrels of rocks alight with gasoline to warm engines and keep missions running.

 

     After returning stateside, Cliff joined the Army National Guard, serving in Army Air Defense with the Hawk and Hercules missile systems. While still serving, Clif began working for his father at Perkins & Son in Artesia. They provided plumbing, sheet metal, air conditioning and soft water. After that, he owned Cliff’s Cafeteria. He kept the name “Cliff’s” since he always went by “Clif.”  

 

     Perkins bought and later sold a local Dairy Queen franchise and in 1965, with the help of his parents BJ and Otiska Perkins, he opened La Fonda Restaurant. The restaurant is currently owned by his daughter Betsy and her husband Josh, who bought the business in 2019.

 

 When Clif opened La Fonda, it held 70 customers. Today it can serve 400. The restaurant’s motto: “if you leave hungry, it was your own fault.”

 

  Perkins met Selah, his wife of 53-years, at the restaurant, where she was an employee. One night, they closed up and they were the only two people there he recalled. “I took a chance and asked her if she’d like to go to the racetrack in Ruidoso and that turned out to be our first date.”  

 

     Clif and Selah have two boys and three girls, along with 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He loves carpentry and loves making cornhole platforms. He said he doesn’t play the game but loves building them for people to enjoy.

 

   He said the one question he’s always asked is, “What’s your secret?” 

His reply: “I don’t have a secret. I don’t smoke or drink (because I did that when I was younger) and I figure that God put me here and he’s keeping me here for a reason.”

 

Perkins said he is fortunate to have watched Artesia grow. When he moved here in 1929, Artesia had 4,700 people and now has over 12,000 according to the 2023 census.

 

“It has been a privilege to be brought up here in Artesia,” he said.

 

Those who honored Perkins on Veterans Day would say it’s been a privilege and honor to have him here.

Game and Fish unveils new website

Michael Smith
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Game and Fish unveils new website

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

A new website featuring information for off-highway vehicle users in New Mexico was revealed Nov. 7 by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

RideNM.org features information for off-highway vehicle (OHV) users in a user-friendly format, according to a press release from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

The new website features easy-to-navigate drop-down menus, giving the public easy access to important information regarding OHV recreation in New Mexico. The site also includes an educational video that also shows off spectacular scenery from throughout the state while also discussing what it means to be an ethical rider. In addition, the site provides quick and easy links to the Department’s hands-on OHV youth safety classes, as well as online youth safety training providers, read the release.

The site’s laws and rules page includes a list of prohibited OHV uses, safety requirements for youth operators and passengers under 18 years of age and links to paved road ordinances and resolutions passed by city and county governments across the state. The Contacts page provides quick links to get in touch with the Department’s OHV Program staff as well as partner organizations, noted the release.

The site will soon feature a downloadable map available for online or offline use. This map will allow OHV operators to access trail information as well as paved-road-use ordinances.

Two killed in Artesia car crash that led to power outage

Adrian Hedden
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Two killed in Artesia car crash that led to power outage

Adrian Hedden

El Rito Media

At least two people were killed when a car crashed into a utility pole late Thursday night in Artesia.

Police said a white 2014 Chevrolet Corvette was traveling north on 13th Street at about 11:30 p.m. when it hit the power pole. The driver and a passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office.

The names of the deceased were not officially released as the accident was under investigation, but they were believed to be Aaron Harmon, 21, and Mallory Ebert, 14.

Deputies with the sheriff’s crash and reconstruction unit were investigating.

Lt. Amy Dugas with the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office said no other vehicles were involved and the sheriff’s office did not suspect any crime had occurred.

“It is considered a single vehicle accident,” she said. “It’s a tragic accident. There’s not really anything else we’re suspecting.”

The crash was reported on the north side of town near North 13th Street and Mahone at the bridge, closing the road to Memorial Drive at Artesia General Hospital.

Artesia police said 13th Street was reopened as of Friday afternoon.

The accident also damaged a power line, leading to a temporary power outage in the city, according to police.

Artesia General Hospital said the power outage and road closure affected hospital operations and access to the main campus on North 13th Street. Power was restored by about 3:50 p.m. Friday, the hospital said via Facebook.

Ashley Curbello joins the Artesia Daily Press as account executive

Michael Smith
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Ashley Curbello joins the Artesia Daily Press as account executive

Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media
achedden@currentargus.com

Ashley Curbello joins the Carlsbad Current-Argus and Artesia Daily Press as an account executive

Ashley Curbello’s four daughters learned the challenges of owning their own business “the hard way.”

She started Hair Pixies two years ago with the four girls, making decorative hair extensions and pieces for the Carlsbad community, offering their wares at local events like the Renaissance Festival and Farmers Market.

Curbello, 38, of Carlsbad said the girls learned discipline, how to budget and sacrifice by giving up several activities time with their friends to build the business.

She also instilled in Chloe, 23; Mickeyla, 18; Brylee, 11 and six-year-old Talyah a sense of community and pride in reaching goals.

“They came in and asked me if they could open their own business and make money. We sat down and discussed what we could do to make it happen,” she recalled. “I loved the idea of them starting a business and all that it takes. They learned the hard way.”

It’s the kind of ambition Curbello also said she hopes to bring to the Carlsbad Current-Argus and Artesia Daily Press as account executive, overseeing advertising sales for El Rito Media for both newspapers.

El Rito bought the Artesia Daily Press last year and the Carlsbad Current-Argus from Gannett in June, along with the Alamogordo Daily News and Ruidoso News.

Curbello’s hiring was part of a broader effort by the company to emphasize the local print products and increase revenue through advertising and print subscription sales.

“I do like the fact that the paper is local again,” Curbello said. “I am all about local and trying to bring other businesses to town. If everyone knows that we (the newspaper) are a tool, it brings us all together.”

That’s a philosophy Curbello said she’s already embracing three weeks into the job. Her first day was Oct. 21, and Curbello already sold ads to the Madison Lee Memorial Store for its fundraiser and W.J. Auction. She said she’s working with several large clients in the community.

“I do everything personally. I go above and beyond,” she said. “Customer service is something I’m always giving out. That is a lost art.”

Curbello moved to Carlsbad in 2010 from her hometown Albuquerque and married her husband Aaron Curbello in 2016. She was a stay-at-home mom for several years, but earned her real estate license in 2018, and said she’s consistently been the top earner in her office at Century 21 Associated Professionals in Carlsbad.

She still works in the real estate business and provides housing market updates and listings for publication in both papers, but said it was the interactions with clients and helping them achieve their goals that would prove most beneficial for ad sales.

“We’re going to build a rapport with every single person,” she said. “With selling ads, you’re helping businesses market themselves and put themselves in front of other people.”

When she isn’t meeting with clients in the community, to sell newspaper ads or houses, Curbello is supporting her daughters in several activities. Talyah does ballet while Brylee swims. Mickeyla just started her own nail studio Nailed It after earning an associate’s degree and cosmetology license while Chloe works as a manager at Lowes.

She said the entire family participates in the children’s activities, which suffice as their downtime.

Still, the family does enjoy the occasional vacation. Curbello said they went on a cruise to the Bahamas last year, and “fell in love.”

“You won’t see any of us out without the majority of the others,” she said of the family. “It teaches the other kids how to be supportive.”

And just like she supports businesses in meeting their goals through advertising, the job itself is another one of Curbello’s goals that she said gives her purpose.

“I thought I’d be a stay-at-home mom forever,” she said. “When I got the knack for customer service, I felt I succeeded at something. I became my own person, not just somebody’s wife or mom.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 734-972-6855, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Meals with Wheels

Michael Smith
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Meals with Wheels

By: Wheeler Cowperthwaite
 

This cranberry tart, made with cranberry curd, takes its cues from lemon bars. Switch out a pastry crust for shortbread, and you’ve got a cranberry bar.

 

I love a good cranberry sauce as much as the next person at Thanksgiving ­— from a spicy cranberry relish to the smooth jelly that comes out of the can, so gelled you cut it with a knife.

One of my joys in November, as the skies begin to darken before the workday is over, is to experiment with cranberries when they start hitting store shelves. Usually, the berries last a long time, sometimes a seemingly-worryingly long time, in the refrigerator.

For this year’s Thanksgiving, I will a continue a recent tradition of making a spicy cranberry relish (add some jalapeños, trust me) and have the canned jelly available at my table. There will also be a new addition: the cranberry curd tart.

I originally got the idea while making lemon bars, which require making a lemon curd, which is then baked. Like cranberries, lemons are sour. For my lemon bars, I throw the whole (deseeded) lemon into the blender.

While blending the lemons, I started thinking: What other kind of curds are out there that I could make? Cranberry seemed like the next logical option. The berries get nice and soft and pop when cooked, they require a similar amount of sugar as lemons and they have that beautiful red hue.

I went searching online and found that I’m not crazy: it’s called a cranberry curd, and it’s most famous in a tart, although I wouldn’t be surprised to find it jarred at a Trader Joe’s.

I’ve adapted a few recipes for cranberry curds and tarts, with some of the flourishes from my experience making lemon bars.

I have included a tart crust in the recipe, but you could also rebrand this with a shortbread crust and a square pan as cranberry bars. Use a pie crust and it’s a cranberry pie.

I’ll buy my tart crust at the store this year, as crusts are not my area of expertise.

Many of these cranberry or lemon curd recipes call for pushing the mixture through a sieve. Personally, I like a little pith, a little skin, a little texture in my curds, tarts and bars.

There is one key aspect of this recipe to keep in mind. Unlike lemon bars, where the lemons are just blended, the cranberries need to be cooked before they get turned into a liquid. Eggs serve a pivotal role, but adding the hot cranberry concoction to the eggs means the hot liquid needs to be added slowly to “temper,” meaning, to gently cook the proteins in the eggs but to keep them from coagulating and giving you scrambled eggs.

 

Ingredients

For the tart crust

1 ½ cups flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter (cold)

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

For the cranberry curd

12 ounces cranberries

1 cup sugar

½ cup orange juice

1 orange peel

¼ cup lemon juice

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 stick unsalted butter

 

Directions

For the tart crust, in a food processor bowl (you can also use a stand mixer or hand power), add the flour, powdered sugar and salt. Pulse (food processor), stir (stand mixer) or cut in (hand power) with a pastry blender the cold butter. It is ready when it is like a coarse meal.

Add an egg yolk, cream and vanilla to the bowl and stir until the dough is in a ball that can be cleanly pulled from the sides.

Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for one hour.

Lightly flour a rolling surface and roll out the dough until it is one or two inches wider than the tart pan. Push the dough into the tart pan.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake crust for 15 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool.

For the cranberry curd, begin by putting the cranberries, sugar, lemon juice, orange juice and orange peel in a saucepan over medium heat. Begin simmering the cranberries until most have popped or they begin to soften — about 10 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender (or using an immersion blender) and blend the cranberry concoction. Mix in the stick of unsalted butter.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs and egg yolks and beat lightly. Slowly mix in and combine with a whisk the cranberry concoction. Add a little at a time until it is all beaten in and tempered. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Pour the room temperature (or refrigerated if made ahead) cranberry curd into the tart shell and smooth the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

 

Recipe adapted from the New York Times’ Cranberry Curd Tart

 

 Wheeler Cowperthwaite is a former cops/courts reporter for the Rio Grande SUN.

Election aftermath demands journalistic reset  

Michael Smith
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By Sherry Robinson
All She Wrote

 

 Two words, “according to,” may be the most important words in any news story you read.

 Journalists are trained to seek out the best, most knowledgeable sources. As a business writer I had certain go-to people I could call who knew their stuff, had their fingers on good data, and could give me an accurate, understandable response. They had earned my trust because of their background, experience and personal honesty. I earned their trust by reporting accurately what they said.

 Accuracy is big. I remember a workshop for reporters in which the speaker practically shouted at us, “Get it right!” I still have her voice in my head. For decades I started interviews with, “Spell your name for me,” even if I was interviewing Jane Smith. Misspell your subject’s name and your credibility nosedives.

 Accuracy’s sister is objectivity. Reporters have to set aside their feelings and opinions and just report the news. I experienced this as almost a physical thing – stepping outside myself to ask questions, hear answers and try to understand all sides of a problem so I could report on it fairly. It’s not easy. You’ve probably seen reporting that wasn’t as objective as it should have been. But in my experience, reporters, with a few exceptions, tried hard to report fairly and accurately. In fact, objectivity is so ingrained in many journalists that it’s downright uncomfortable for them to write an opinion. It’s why I have trouble recruiting writers for this small opinion column service.

 Opinions. That’s what you’re reading right now. Opinion columns run in clearly marked newspaper opinion pages and are not mixed in with news. It sets us apart from other media and the internet.

 During the nation’s colonial days, small, crude newspapers informed citizens about the Tea Tax Act and the American Revolution as it was unfolding. Reporting and journalistic ethics evolved as they covered government, wars, economic downturns and politicians. Founding fathers recognized newspapers’ power to shine a light in dark places and protected them with the First Amendment. The Virginia Declaration of Rights called freedom of the press “one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty.”

That said, I’m not blind to the abuses and incompetence that drag down my industry, and now it’s also struggling to swim in the fast current of the internet.

Online you can a find a mind boggling amount of useful information as well as a mind numbing amount of misinformation (information with unintended errors) and disinformation (information intended to deceive). That fire hose of facts, entertainment, beliefs, complaints, speculation and lies should make us all information consumers. Very little of it is qualified by an “according to.” We don’t know where much of it comes from, and so we have to choose carefully what to believe.

 Years ago I participated in a conference whose organizers wanted to educate readers about the media. Many of the speakers were foreign journalists who complained their governments were deliberately sowing lies to confuse citizens and undermine the work of the media. An uninformed citizenry is an easily led citizenry. That couldn’t happen here, we thought.

And yet, long before this election, we’ve been swamped with disinformation originating internally and from Russia, China and Iran whose goal is to keep us fighting amongst ourselves and keep us in disarray. The response has been to meet the gusher of disinformation with facts, but it’s an unfair fight. Disinformation requires no work, just an outlet. Debunk one piece of disinformation, and 20 more spring up.

 In this election, one of the losers was conventional reporting. We can’t just blame attacks and slurs like “lamestream media” that undermined our credibility. The present wave of analysis includes disinformation, but it should also include journalism.

 I still believe Americans need facts and objective reporting. I salute the journalists still fighting the good fight. But we too must do some navel gazing and a lot more explaining.

           

Sherry Robinson is a longtime New Mexico reporter and editor. She has worked in Grants, Gallup, the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico Business Weekly and Albuquerque Tribune. She is the author of four books. Her columns won first place in 2024 from New Mexico Press Women.

Fish continue to bite with warm fall weather

Michael Smith
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Fish continue to bite with warm fall weather

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

Fishing is good at lakes across southeast and southwest New Mexico as November temperatures remain above average.

Around Truth or Consequences, fishing for white bass was good using Flicker Shad lures at Elephant Butte Lake.

Fishing for walleye was slow to fair using white crankbaits and jigs tipped with worms. Fishing for smallmouth and largemouth bass was fair to good using plastic worms.

Fishing for catfish was good using cut bait and marinated garlic shrimp.

In Lincoln County, fishing for trout was fair to good at Bonito Lake using olive-green Pistol Pete spinner flies.

At Grindstone Lake, fishing for trout was good using Rooster Tail spinners, Salmon Peach PowerBait, chartreuse Pautzke Balls O’ Fire and mini marshmallows.

This fishing report, provided by the Department of Game and Fish in cooperation with Dustin Berg of www.gounlimited.org has been generated from the best information available from area officers and anglers. Conditions encountered after the report was compiled may differ, as stream, lake and weather conditions alter fish and angler activities.

The 2013 Year Old Man

Michael Smith
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The 2013 Year Old Man

By: Pastor David Grousnick

Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks once did a comedy skit called the “2013 Year Old Man”. In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, “Did you always believe in the Lord?”

Brooks replied: “No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him.”

Reiner: You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why?

Brooks: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands!

Reiner: Did you have prayers?

Brooks: Yes, would you like to hear one? O Phil, please don’t be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands.

Reiner: So, when did you start worshiping the Lord?

Brooks: Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, “There’s somthin’ bigger than Phil!”

Have you ever tried to make a prediction? Here are some predictions from the past. All from people who were trusted individuals:

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

“Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons.” — Popular Mechanics, 1949

“While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility.” — Lee DeForest, inventor.

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” — Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.” — A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

“Who the h*** wants to hear actors talk?” — H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

“I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.” — Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in “Gone With the Wind.”

“Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax.” — William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British scientist, 1899.

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” — Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

“With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.” — Business Week, August 2, 1968.

“There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.” — Albert Einstein, 1932

“There will never be a bigger plane built.” — A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people.

“Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.” — Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.

Over the years, many people have speculated about the end of the world and the end of time. Even Jesus’ first disciples wanted to know. “When will this be?” they asked, “What will be the sign?”

Throughout Mark 13, Jesus makes it clear that no one knows when the end will be. Even he did not know. As he said in Mark 13:32: “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

It is understandable that some Christians have grown impatient over the centuries and have tried to speed things up a bit. I love what someone once said about the return of the Lord.

“God did not put me on the Time & Place Committee; He put me on the Preparation Committee.”

Our job is not to speculate about times and seasons, but to make sure that we are living as God wants us to live – sisters and brothers to one another – here and now. Some folks are “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.”

Have a great weekend!

David Grousnick, is the Pastor at the First Christian Church in Artesia.

United Way honors late community supporter with award

Michael Smith
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United Way honors late community supporter with award

Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

The late Gary Sims was honored Tuesday, Nov. 12, as the first recipient of the Gary Sims Award for service to the United Way.

The award was presented during a ribbon cutting for United Way Eddy County’s new Artesia headquarters at 605 W. Main St. Sims’ daughter, Anna Whitmire, accepted the award on behalf of the family.

“It’s very meaningful because my dad was a person who didn’t really like to be recognized,” Whitmire said, “but he did recognize that volunteering and giving back was really important. United Way was a way that he did that during his lifetime. He always enjoyed leading the fundraising cause and so United Way was near and dear to his heart. It’s an honor for his name to be at the top of that award.”

Kyle Marksteiner has been executive director of Carlsbad-based United Way of Eddy County for barely more than a year but said he is well-acquainted with the contributions to United Way that prompted creation of the award.

“I really thank the Sims family,” Marksteiner said. “As I have been coming up (from Carlsbad) … I hear so much about Mr. Sims and what he did for this community, and so to be able to kind of continue that legacy was a major honor.”

Sims, who died in April 2019 at the age of 68, was a longtime insurance agent with J.S. Ward and Son Insurance Agency. He served as president of the former United Way of Artesia board of directors and frequently acted as the organization’s “spokesperson,” reaching out to local businesses and community service groups to encourage support for United Way.

Whitmire said her father had time for anyone in the Artesia community.

“He never met a stranger,” she said. “He would listen incessantly to stories and he was interested in people’s lives and their kids and what was going on with their mom and their aunt and their uncle. He was very active in supporting all the sports teams.”

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or email at msmith@currentargus.com

The 2024 Elections in New Mexico

Michael Smith
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The 2024 Elections in New Mexico

By: Dr. Jose Garcia,
El Rito Media Political Analyst

Voters in New Mexico did not dispute the very soul of the American Creed this election year, as they did in the rest of the nation. And while the nation saw Kamala’s support from traditional Democratic constituents — women, blacks, labor unions, and Hispanics— dwindle enough to lose key states, New Mexico remained stubbornly in the Blue column.

No surprises. Gabe Ramos, a former moderate Democrat, turned Republican, flipped a senate seat he once held as a Democrat in a district including Silver City, Deming, and Lordsburg. And Rebecca Dow, a Republican who held House District 38 (Doña Ana and Sierra counties) for three terms, regained that seat held for two years by a moderate Democrat. That’s it. Democrats still own the Washington delegation, the Governor’s office, the Supreme Court, both chambers of the legislature, and all statewide elected offices.

Does this mean voters are happy with current leadership around the state? No, it just means the algorithms of gerrymandering effectively preserve Democratic power. The term “Democratic” here is an oxymoron. Gerrymandering is the major reason extremists in both parties have been able to thwart the will of the majority that should, in a functioning democracy, prevail. Wanna restore majority rule? Take redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and put it in the hands of a bipartisan group of ordinary citizens, say, the first seven people walking into the Walmart in Socorro on Monday morning, instructed to maximize the number of districts that are competitive between the two parties. Only then will the majority rule again, the most sacred tenet of the American Creed first articulated by Thomas Jefferson.

As they gather for another legislative session Democrats might try something they haven’t done in ages. Why not tackle New Mexico’s major problems instead of just gesturing at them: deteriorating education at all levels, a poor and worsening health care system, and an economic system that can’t seem to catch up to the twenty first century except in the area of oil production?

But why should Democrats, slurping Bull Ring liquor and gobbling up fat-cat campaign contributions tackle these difficult issues when voters keep re-electing them? A little tinkering under the hood of the electoral record reveals a trend that gerrymandering can’t reverse and should serve as a warning.

Background: Ethnicity has been a major factor in electoral politics in New Mexico from the beginning. When given a choice, Hispanics vote heavily for Hispanics, and Anglos vote heavily for Anglos. Hispanics were overwhelmingly Republican—the Party of Lincoln—when New Mexico became a state in 1912 and because of this, Republicans dominated legislative politics until the late 1930’s. Then, Hispanics migrated—without visas, across the no-wall partisan divide—into the Democratic Party, where they were welcomed, and have remained. Because a significant minority of Anglos since then have been attracted to the working-class, Rooseveltian, orientation of the Democratic Party, this has meant that normally Democrats control both senate and house, and often occupy the Governor’s mansion and most other statewide offices.

In recent years, however, after the Democratic Party embraced the charms of identity politics, privileging gays, feminists, immigrants, and the like, New Mexico Hispanics began to feel left out. This is similar to what happened to working classes in the Midwest after manufacturing moved to China. But, due to poor leadership, the New Mexico Republican Party, confined largely to the oil patch, failed to take advantage of this opportunity statewide at the operational level.

Back to the warning for Democrats:

This table shows what has already happened in the four most Hispanic counties in the state, with an average Hispanic population of more than 77%. Notice the decline in the Democratic vote for President from 2008-2024. In Mora, the drop in support is more than 30 points in 16 years. In Guadalupe the drop is 21; in San Miguel it is 17; in Rio Arriba 16: the higher the Hispanic proportion, the more drastic the drop, implying Anglos in these counties are not the cause of the decline. If these trends hold up in the other counties, the Democratic Hispanic vote will soon be too small to overcome the tendency of Anglos to favor the Republican Party. PTrump was right: New Mexico is ripe for the taking.

Dr. Jose Garcia is a former New Mexico Secretary of Higher Education, retired University PhD professor of political science, is active in state politics and a columnist for El Rito Media. He lives in Las Cruces and also frequently spends time in Santa Fe where he maintains a residence.

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