Staff Reports

Gordon Snidow, considered one of the most popular Western-themed artists of his generation, died Sunday, April 12, at his home in Ruidoso. He was 89.

“He was an incredible human being with so much natural talent and ability,” said Snidow’s former wife Grace Griffin Snidow, who was married to the artist for 19 years and maintains a website chronicling his work.

“His paintings are so easy to market because they can tell an entire story of a subject without words,” she said. “There are so very few artists that captured the true contemporary Western way of life better than Gordon Snidow.”

Snidow was born in Paris, Missouri, in 1936. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he grew up hearing stories about Western cowboys. His talent for drawing and sketching was obvious at a young age.

He attended the ArtCenter College of Design in California, where family members say he developed the technical discipline that would define his work, graduating in 1959 and going on to become a charter member of the Cowboy Artists of America.

After graduation, Snidow moved to Albuquerque and worked for Sandia National Laboratories. But his life soon revolved around Western art, leading him to relocate in Ruidoso to take up his passion full time.

Snidow’s work has been shown around the world, including Russia, France, England, China and Germany, and his paintings hang in the permanent collections of numerous museums, according to Griffin Snidow’s website.

A retrospective featuring the artist’s sketches and paintings had a 45-day showing in 2003 at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building in Washington D.C.

Also in 2003, the New Mexico Legislature named him “Artist of the American West.” He received the 1998 New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Some of Snidow’s most famous subjects were shown holding a beer can. “Colorado Coolade,” a portrait of a ranch hand sitting on a fence enjoying a brew, is one of a series of paintings commissioned by Coors Brewing Company in the 1970s. Prints from that series remain valuable collector’s items today.

According to ArtzLine, an online Western art gallery website, Snidow’s artwork recorded “every aspect of his time. Those include his American woman series, the homeless, wildlife, and one specific work recognizable anywhere in the country today – an adobe wall covered with graffiti. All parts of his view of the “whole fabric” of the modern West. He paints it not as he would like it to be, but the way it is – warts and all.”

Snidow’s son, Steven Snidow, offered a personal perspective on his father’s life and work.

“Not long ago when asked about his career my dad stated that each next piece, like each next day, he wanted to ‘be better,’” Steven said. “I think we see this in his body of work and in his unwavering commitment to not only his craft, his art, but the lived truth of the American West.

“As he stated, he started his career with the white-faced Hereford and ended it with the black angus on the range. He did not like the ranches being populated with wind turbines and other more modern technology. I believe he painted what he saw – people meeting the challenge of the day, every day, as he himself did.”

In addition to son Steven, 60, of Ruidoso, Gordon Snidow is survived by two other children – Chris Snidow, 67, of Ruidoso and Laurie Snidow, 63, of Dallas, Texas.

Editor’s note: For full coverage of Gregg Hull’s campaign event, check back with the Artesia Daily Press in print and online.

Gregg Hull touted his record of bringing new industries into his community in hopes of earning the Republican nomination for governor.

He was elected to his third term as mayor of Rio Rancho in 2022 and is one of two frontrunners in this year’s GOP Primary Election on June 2, hoping to take on the Democratic nominee in the November General Election.

The winner will replace Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who was term limited and will leave office at the end of 2026.

At a Tuesday, April 14 morning gathering at coffee shop Kith and Kin in Artesia of about 10 residents and government leaders, Hull, 59, pointed to increases in Rio Rancho’s local industries such as aerospace and manufacturing, which he said he supported as mayor. 

“The business climate in Rio Rancho was just horrible,” Hull said of the city before he was elected. “When I started complaining about it, people started saying I should do something about. I realized it’s just like running a small business.”

Photos by Mike Smith, Artesia Daily Press

The Combat Hero Bike Build’s (CHBB) “American Hero Honor Rides” stopped in Artesia Tuesday afternoon.

“Our goal is to enhance the motorcycle experience of our heroes and supporters,” read the organization’s website.

The rides are designed to raise awareness of sacrifices made by the military and first responders.

The ride started Sunday in Phoenix with overnight stays in Lordsburg and Alamogordo.

Tuesday in Artesia the motorcycles ventured through downtown as the trip concludes in Boerne, Texas Friday as a custom-made motorcycle will be presented to a veteran.

Bob Campbell
Lovington Leader

State Sen. Gallegos faces two primary opponents after signatures tallied

New Mexico Sen. David Gallegos of Eunice hopes to run for the state’s No. 2 leadership post against either Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver or Albuquerque Sen. Harold Pope Jr.

Gallegos will face off with two other Republican candidates for lieutenant governor this summer in New Mexico’s June 2 Primary Election.

If chosen, Gallegos will take on the Democratic Party’s nominee, after that party’s voters select either Pope or Toulouse Oliver.

The Republican nominee will be paired with the party’s gubernatorial hopeful in the Nov. 3 general election.

When asked how big of a voting bloc he will need from the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico to win statewide, Gallegos said he had not yet done the math, but will run a vigorous issue-oriented campaign focused on the needs of rural areas like his Senate District 41 in Lea and Eddy counties.

He said he is well-respected among Republicans statewide as neither of his primary opponents, attorney Aubrey Blair Dunn and investor Manuel Lardizabal, both of Albuquerque, got enough support at the March 8 GOP Pre-Primary Convention to get on the primary ballot.

Lardizabal and Dunn will be on the primary ballot though, after gaining enough signatures by the March 17 deadline, which the Secretary of State’s office finished counting on Tuesday, March 24.

Dunn and Lardizabal got 77 and 61 votes respectively at the convention to Gallegos’ 278.

With Lt. Gov. Howie Morales not seeking re-election and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham term-limited, the Republican nominees will face the Democrats in the Nov. 3 general election where a new governor will be decided, along with lieutenant governor.

“I was the only one who had enough votes at the convention to get on the ballot and mine is the only rural voice in this election,” Gallegos said. “That’s the reality, so it’s worth the fight.”

The senator is in a period now of intense fund-raising and he does not plan to spend a lot of money on TV but rather to concentrate on social media, newspaper and radio advertising, mailers to voters and personal campaigning.

“We will do with what we have,” Gallegos said. “I don’t know that we need TV.”

He touted his experience as New Mexico lawmaker, after serving in the Senate since 2021 and in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021.

“The lieutenant governor presides over the New Mexico Senate and I have the experience in the Roundhouse,” Gallegos said. “I will also stand in as governor when the governor leaves the state or the country.”

Gallegos’ said he envisions protecting New Mexico’s economy and working families by defending energy jobs and American production.

He said he will also work to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and stop drug trafficking, ensuring safer communities and real public safety.

Education was also critical, Gallegos said. He serves on the Eunice School Board and said he will prioritize standing with parents and strengthening public education, while also supporting agriculture, water resources and rural communities.

“It’s important to have a rural voice and someone who has actually been in legislative office,” Gallegos said.

On the Democratic side, Pope released a statement via Facebook on April 6 that he would not accept donations from any oil and gas companies or special interests.

He said his campaign was about “leadership that isn’t afraid to take on powerful interests and speak the truth.”

Toulouse Oliver, who is currently serving as New Mexico Secretary of State most recently touted in an April 3 Facebook post an endorsement from current Lt. Gov. Morales.

“I will be honored to take up the work Howie (Morales) has built as a champion for students, teachers, and all New Mexicans,” read the post.

Joshua Bowling
Source New Mexico

New Mexico state Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Elephant Butte) announced on Wednesday morning that she had lost a legal challenge to her re-election campaign’s legitimacy and won’t appear on the June 2 primary ballot. The Republican, who first won the seat in 2016 and unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022, said she plans to appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Tara Jaramillo, a Democrat who previously held Dow’s District 38 seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives, filed a challenge in court and alleged that Dow filed flawed paperwork when she sought reelection.

Specifically, Jaramillo alleged that Dow’s paperwork incorrectly said she was seeking the office of “House of Repres,” not “House of Representatives, District 38.” Her complaint also alleged that Dow submitted screenshots of nominating petitions rather than the forms required under state law.

“I thought, ‘Well, everybody knows what she’s running for.’ That wasn’t really my concern,” Jaramillo told Source NM. “When I looked deeper into it, I noticed she submitted screenshots rather than the petitions themselves. Since I had filed similar petitions, I knew that that was improper.”

In an amended order Wednesday morning, a Third Judicial District judge agreed and wrote that the county clerk’s qualification for Dow as a candidate should be undone.

Dow was unopposed in the primary election, and faced a write-in Democratic candidate in the Nov. 3 general election, according to New Mexico Secretary of State records. Jaramillo said she has no plans to run for the seat.

In a lengthy statement posted to social media, Dow said she planned to appeal.

“Recently, a district court decision removed my name from the ballot. I want you to hear directly from me: this was not about whether I earned your support,” she wrote. “We gathered the required signatures. We followed the process to qualify. Instead, this decision came down to a dispute over paperwork—a technical issue that has now resulted in our district having no candidate on the ballot.”

Dow wrote that the issue at hand came down to a technicality.

“I have always believed that elections should be decided by the people, not by technicalities,” Dow wrote. “Our system is strongest when it protects access, encourages participation, and respects the will of the voters. What has happened here falls short of those principles.”