Close race likely for land commissioner

SANTA FE – New Mexico’s next land commissioner will oversee more than 14,000 square miles of state trust land scattered across the Land of Enchantment. And the three-way race is shaping up as perhaps the closest contest on the fall ballot. Just 2 percentage points separated Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard and Republican Pat Lyons in a Journal Poll last month, with Libertarian Michael Lucero trailing well behind. The campaign is wide-open, because incumbent Aubrey Dunn, a Libertarian, is stepping down after four years in office. He won election as a Republican but later switched his affiliation. Garcia Richard, who represents the Los Alamos area in the state House, is campaigning as someone who knows firsthand the importance of generating revenue for New Mexico schools. She’s an educator for the Pojoaque Valley School District. “I bring a completely different perspective than this office has ever had,” she said. Lyons, a Quay County rancher who served as land commissioner from 2003 to 2010, describes himself as an experienced land manager who would work well with private industry, such as oil and gas producers and ranchers. “I’ve managed lands all my life,” he said. “You need a land manager there.” Lucero, a rancher from the Jemez Springs area, is urging people to disregard party labels. “I’m not a politician,” he said. “I see things as right and wrong – not one party or the other.” The commissioner of public lands oversees state trust lands and generates revenue through leases to ranchers, oil and gas producers, and others. Much of the money flows into the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund, which provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year for public schools, universities and other beneficiaries...MORE