VOTE411 Voter Guide

I hold the Chartered Financial Analysts designation, which is the gold standard of investment credentials. It signifies a strong foundation in securities analysis and portfolio management, and a commitment to ethics and professionalism in the investment industry.

This is not a job for a career politician — it’s one for someone with proven investment credentials.

The highest responsibility of the State Treasurer is to safeguard and to responsibly grow the public funds entrusted to the state treasury office. The State Treasurer directly manages the $20 billion state treasury portfolio, and serves on 13 boards, councils, and commissions which oversee $160 in state funds.

I will advocate for putting unclaimed property administration with the State Treasury Office. The Taxation & Revenue Department is the wrong office, and it shows: we're holding $390 million that belong to New Mexican families and businesses, and returning less than 5 cents on every dollar. As your Treasurer, I'll fix that.

New Mexicans deserve to know how their money is performing. I will publish a clear, plain-English quarterly investment performance report on the Treasurer's website. Transparency isn't optional when managing $20 billion of public funds.

I will use my seat on the board of the State Investment Council, as well as on other boards, to advocate for the responsible stewardship of state funds — not for political agendas.

To be clear, the state treasurer’s office directly manages the state treasury’s $20 billion portfolio.

The question, then, is really what criteria I would recommend to other boards, such as the State Investment Council for selecting outside investment advisors. The SIC has a solid framework for selecting external advisors. There are some ways this can be improved, such as doing a better job of considering total costs rather than just headline management fees.

However, the bigger question is whether the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies that it requires managers to adhere to is a drag on investment returns. I would advocate for an implementation of this policy that does not result in a drag on returns.

In the state treasury’s $20 billion portfolio, there simply is no statutory authority to invest directly in New Mexico-based private companies. These investments are limited to high-quality, liquid fixed-income securities. Investing in New Mexico municipal and state-issued bonds, however, is something that the Treasurer can and does do.

The State Investment Council is where investing in New Mexico businesses can and does happen. There are statutory requirements for how much the SIC must invest in the NM Small Business Investment Corp. The key tension is that of fiduciary duty. I would advocate for in-state investment above and beyond what is required by statute only if these investments would not depress returns.

I am qualified to continue serving as State Treasurer because I bring more than two decades of direct experience in public finance, treasury operations, and government leadership — and because I am already successfully performing the responsibilities of this office. My career has been built around safeguarding public funds, strengthening financial systems, and ensuring that New Mexicans can trust their government to manage their money responsibly. As State Treasurer, I oversee the state’s investment portfolio, cash flow, banking services, and financial compliance functions. My background uniquely prepared me for this work while also pushing financial fitness as a graduation requirement, baby bonds, and UNM/NMSU financial certification.

I swore an oath to be the state's fiduciary. A fiduciary must always act in the best interest of the funds. This is the highest ethical and legal obligation. My job is to provide safety, liquidity, and yield in that order. I pride myself in being accessible to the people and my job is to serve New Mexicans to the best of my ability even if it is not the most favored decisions I am required to make.

I have been addressing them, and we are ready to continue the work with your support. We are building a strong team to achieve our goals. We have made more money for the state and have the largest portfolio the state treasurer's office has ever had. We are holding the Trump administration accountable, especially when his orders negatively affect New Mexico.

If you are referring to working with banks to manage our cash deposits, we base the relationship on risk and compliance as well as their reporting, collateral requirements, and the rate they can provide. We are developing a new program that will allow me to work with our local banks at a lower rate, with the commitment that the local banks will do more to contribute to our communities in small business loans, mortgages, and small loans for community members.

My portfolio does not "invest in any companies." The State Treasurer's Office is the liquidity for the state and invests per 6-10-10 NMSA. I am on 13 boards, councils and commissions including the SIC, which is the second largest sovereign wealth fund in the country. We just updated our NM portfolio to make it more successful where we focus on rate of return and now encourage and hold fund managers accountable to work in or with NM when appropriate. There are a lot of amazing investments occurring in NM whether through SBIC, economic development, Housing NM, NMFA or our investment decisions.