mailingstate
NM
Occupation
Legislator
Filing County
Bernalillo
I have served four terms as a legislator. From 2009 to 2012, I represented House District 13. Since 2022, I have represented House District 26. I have also served on the Public Education Commission and the Bernalillo County Labor Board. I have also served on various boards of community organizations. I bring a wealth of experience in union and community organizing. I have a deep understanding of the hardships that families in my District face daily, and I will continue to fight to improve their lives.
My top priorities are healthcare, workers' rights, CYFD, and environmental protection. I will continue to work on systemic healthcare change to reduce costs and increase access. I believe workers should be able to organize without facing intimidation from management, and implementing nurse-to-patient ratios will improve staffing and patient care. CYFD has been on a downward spiral, causing harm to children and families. I support removing CYFD from the governor's purview and appointing Child Welfare experts to run the agency. We must protect our natural resources from industries that pollute our land, air, and water. I will introduce and support legislation that addresses all of these issues.
Climate change is depleting our water supply, and we must act with urgency. We need to expand the capacity of state agencies responsible for water management and provide them with the resources they need to support their work. We must abide by interstate compact agreements. Implementing the Water Security Planning Act is essential to future planning. We need to increase conservation efforts and create a public education program/campaign to teach New Mexicans how to conserve water in their daily lives. Industry must also act responsibly to conserve water.
We must consider whether the proposed project aligns with the community's values and needs. Does the community support the project? Is the project sustainable for the long term? The governmental entity responsible for regulatory oversight should conduct an independent analysis of the true overall job creation and long-term economic development benefits and impacts. Another important question to consider is the project's environmental impact, especially on water.
We need to focus on growing our own healthcare workforce. During the 2026 legislative session, the legislature allocated $500 million to the UNM School of Medicine to increase medical student admissions. The legislature allocated $30 million for Medicaid expansion, $25 million toward BeWell premium assistance, to prevent coverage loss for individuals and families earning under 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL), $38.1 million to offset the expiration of EPTCs for those earning above the 400% of the FPL, and $40 million for immigrant Medicaid enrollees who would otherwise lose eligibility on October 1, 2026. We must continue working to address the high cost of pharmaceuticals and other healthcare cost drivers.
mailingstate
NM
Occupation
Chaplain
Filing County
Bernalillo
I live in HD 26. I am a board-certified hospice chaplain, life coach, and small-business and nonprofit leader with a Master of Divinity. I walk with families through crisis and have knocked on more than 1,000 doors here. I am qualified because I already live our district's problems—safety, schools, health care, and jobs—and I will work across the aisle to fix them.
My highest priorities for House District 26 are public safety, schools that actually prepare kids, and health care that families can use.
I will start by listening in the district—not Santa Fe—and by co-sponsoring bills that already have a path: stronger consequences for repeat violent crime and fentanyl trafficking; workforce and trade pathways so graduates can earn here; and hospice and primary-care reforms that cut red tape so patients keep their doctors and families get support at the end of life. I will vote the budget like a household: fund the core, measure results, and say no to spending that does not make this district safer, better educated, or healthier.
Water is law before it is politics. The Legislature must keep New Mexico in compliance with the Rio Grande Compact and the Lower Rio Grande Settlement so we do not face new lawsuits. That means metering what we use, enforcing rights, fixing leaky pipes and ditches, and funding storage and watershed work that keeps water in the system.
We should also learn from other dry places. Israel and parts of Arizona and Australia treat wastewater for farms and industry, and store wet-year water underground through aquifer recharge.
Large projects should clear a public test, not just a ribbon-cutting. I would apply five criteria: (1) a real net return to taxpayers after incentives—jobs, wages, and local purchasing, not headcount on a press release; (2) enough water and power without shifting the shortage onto households and farms; (3) written clawbacks if the company misses job, wage, or investment targets or leaves early; (4) infrastructure costs that are honest up front, not dumped on the city later; and (5) open contracts the public can read. New Mexico should grow from our strengths—energy, labs, trades, health care, and small business—not bid against ourselves with blank checks.
Access in District 26 means care close to home, not an ER across town. I will work to site a full-service hospital in this district so families don't have to d out of HD 26 for emergencies and deliveries.
Doctors and hospitals will not stay here while New Mexico remains a lawsuit magnet. I support medical-liability reform on the Texas model: a hard cap on noneconomic damages, early expert-report requirements, and limits that let clinicians buy insurance and keep practicing. Patients would still recover economic losses,wages and medical bills.
I also support increased reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid at least 20%, so clinics and hospitals can keep staff. Pair that with training pipelines for nurses and aides. Measure it by wait times.
