This is election 2026.

Coverage from KRWG Public Media.

I'm Noah Raess and election day is Tuesday.

We continue our coverage with the New Mexico State House district 37 forum featuring Republican candidate Isabella Solis and Democratic candidate Lori Martinez.

Thank you both for joining us today.

Each candidate will have one minute to answer each question, and we will alternate who answers first.

We ask that the candidates do not mention each other by name.

We'll start with Isabella Solis.

And it's pretty clear that data centers have been a hot topic of debate in New Mexico and across the country in the last year, especially.

what do you think the state's role should be in new data centers and maybe even existing ones?

Well, I am pro economic development, and, I think that the data centers bring in an enormous mega data center that, takes up hundreds of acres of farmland.

And it was done without, community input.

And I think that we need to consider the cost and, the cost in our power grid and, the water supply.

And I think that we need to, make sure that we don't take that risk.

And, if you think about it, a lot of the data centers right now, the, I would have to say that the power brokers, in Santa Fe helped pass this law.

And I think that it has been a detriment to our community because it was done behind the backs of our, our people.

And, I think that, we need to revisit that.

And, Miss Martinez, same question to you.

Sure.

Well, I think like much of the country, New Mexico is behind when it comes to data centers.

So I am fully in support of a moratorium on data centers until we get the regulatory environment figured out.

we've seen with Project Jupiter how how tricky and also how much trust has been, breached in the process of how it came about.

You know, we the public really learned about it last September.

So a little over a year ago and it really felt like by the time the public was made aware that it was already a done deal.

And so we've seen the backlash about that, you know, and here we are over a year later, we still don't have clear answers on the water use, on the emissions, on what they're going to do with regards to how they're going to power it.

the pipeline is being held up.

And now after last year, they promised us they would not tap into the El Paso electric grid.

And now they're talking about doing just that.

And so people have good reason to be, you know, wary and suspicious.

And so, we want the jobs, but we don't want the jobs that are cost to our people.

You know, there should be not only transparency in the process, but there also needs to be clear community engagement and input.

there needs to be enforceable agreements.

There should be clear community benefit agreements that can be enforced.

And also, when the contracts are drawn up, there need to be really clear clawback provisions, because we've seen in the county commission meetings, even when, the developers are reporting, they're not, reporting on what they agreed to give us progress reports on.

So, you know, there's a lot of work to be done on data centers here.

Yeah.

And after Jupiter got announced, a lot of attention turned to the state's transparency laws around lobbyist transparency.

what do you think of the laws that are on the books, and what changes do you think might be necessary?

I think people deserve to know, who what our lobbyists are there for.

So I'm a I run a local nonprofit, and so we do a little bit of lobbying work.

And so historically, it's been not so much that we've needed to like, register.

And so much of it has been done in coalitions.

But we see a lot of, power brokering going on in Santa Fe.

And so I do think we need to know we should have lobbyists who are reporting on what bills they're there to support or to oppose.

I think people should know how much resources are going into bills that are being supported or opposed.

and I think we should take a look at what other states are doing and see what works best for New Mexico as well.

And missile in question.

Well, I think that the power brokers in, Santa Fe helped pass this bill, and I think that that's a huge problem because they passed that bill.

And, those powerful power brokers, just like the speaker of the House, has really, seriously been the biggest contributor to my opponent's campaign.

And so we need to revisit this as, how we passed these laws.

And health care is often cited as one area for economic diversification in New Mexico.

what are some other untapped or underdeveloped options that you see in the state?

Health care?

Well, if we look at our health care system, doctors are leaving the state of New Mexico right and left.

And, I say that the trial lawyers have really been the lobbyist that has caused this big action of doctors leaving the state of New Mexico.

And, the trial lawyers are able to pass these policies.

And really, we are dealing with a policy issue.

And they passed policies in Santa Fe to, benefit and gain power.

And I believe that people that are, you know, getting rich, overpowering greed by suing doctors in the state of New Mexico, there are people that are suffering in this process.

So we need to change that.

And, if I think about it, my opponent is beans.

I mean, seriously funded by trial lawyers.

So I will stand up and fight for the reform and make sure it's not overturned in New Mexico.

And Miss Martinez, same question to you.

Actually, the largest contributors to my campaign have been elected officials and prior elected officials.

they know me, they know my work in the community and they know who they want to work with.

And so we have serious issues in health care in New Mexico.

And it's really unfortunate that it's been boiled down to such a simplistic issue that has, unfortunately, pit doctors and lawyers against each other because we have doctors who are in really difficult positions when we have so much of our health care in New Mexico that is corporate controlled.

And so doctors who have, an oath to uphold, you know, have to wrestle every day with the idea that their clinical judgment isn't trusted.

And so they have to look at what is an insurance company willing to cover or willing to not cover.

And so I think we need to look at the big picture of health care in New Mexico.

We need to protect Medicaid, which covers 1 in 3 New Mexicans.

We need to limit the reach of corporate power in New Mexico, where many of our rural hospitals are now owned by corporations.

I think we need to allow doctors to example, to practice according to their expertise.

And I think we need to be, mindful of protecting the reproductive health rights that we fought so hard to get.

And we need to make sure that we are, supporting behavioral health providers and making sure that we're including that in a holistic picture of health in New Mexico.

Finally, New Mexico is ready for a conversation about universal health care, which sounds, you know.

Undoable.

But we passed universal child care this last year.

And according to the infrastructure report card, New Mexico earned a C grade in terms of infrastructure and had over 200 high hazard dams in the state.

after recent flooding and concerns about dam failure up in Garfield.

what do you think needs to be done to address these, infrastructure problems?

And what can you do about it?

that's a good question.

You know, infrastructure is part of the backbone of our economy.

That kind of makes everything else possible.

And so without it, we see people struggling with with just the day to day of getting to work or just being able to function our water, making sure it comes out of our faucets the way we need it to.

So I think we need to, you know, like many things, you start with the needs assessment.

What is the condition of the things that we already have?

What condition are they in.

And then look at where are the things that are the most urgent.

And finally, listen to our experts.

So there are a lot of times when outside power comes into New Mexico and tries to have a say in our resources, and it's really our people and our experts who should be informing these decisions and also informing where that money and where the resources go, what gets prioritized, what can wait?

and also, again, community engagement.

You can never skip over that.

We should be talking to our communities about what they need.

And this the same question to you in regards to the dams.

yes.

Okay.

I know that New Mexico received a large amount of money federally through the last administration to work on infrastructure, street lighting and things like that.

And I think that we should begin to utilize that, that money that we have a massive amounts.

Not sure where it is right now, but we have about 194 dams, and a lot of them need, attention immediately.

And even if we look at the McCullough McCloud, dam, it was, recorded as being weak about a year ago and it was not addressed.

And that's why we had the floods that we had in Radium Springs.

So it is important to begin to address these issues.

We have money for infrastructure, and we need to begin to look at the dams and take it more serious picture, and a more active, role in what we have been doing, because we need to protect our citizens, of our communities.

And we are not doing that.

This administration has had eight years to be able to do something about all these things, and they have not done it.

And what changes to New Mexico's tax policy would you like to see whether that is income tax?

TRT any other type of tax?

What do you think New Mexico needs to change about its tax policy?

I think that we need to get rid of the GST.

That is huge.

even if we think about affordable housing, you know, the debt is high.

And, by removing some of the GRC and that also causes, things to go up.

And people are struggling with the cost of living because of the high JRT.

I would eliminate that ought to be able to give families an opportunity to be able to provide for their families.

And right now, I think that the current administration has been incompetent in so many ways.

as we look at the future of our residents, where they struggle every single day because they are not doing and listening to the community and the needs that we have.

And this Martinez, same question to you.

Well, first of all, I think the wealthy and out-of-state interests, especially corporate interests, should be paying their fair share of taxes.

And that's something we should especially be looking at in our tax structure.

I think we should be looking at things like doubling the working families tax credit and also looking at where we can expand the child tax credit.

you know, we've had of affordability is a huge issue.

And so we've seen what inflation does under normal circumstances in the last few years have been anything but normal.

So we see families really struggling to pay for the basics.

and so I think we need to, you know, look at where we can expand those tax credits to help families, but also make sure that we protect the wins that we've had.

So, for example, New Mexico doesn't charge gross receipts, tax on groceries.

And there have been people who have tried to change that.

And those are examples of things that I think we need to fight to protect.

And kind of going up in the last question, according to a poll recently, New Mexicans listed affordability as their biggest concern going into this election cycle.

what can you do and what do you think the state needs to do to address those concerns?

Well, I think we look at what are the things that are causing, people the most difficulties right now.

You know, one is housing for sure.

we've seen again, a lot of out-of-state interest coming into New Mexico and buying up a lot of property and then jacking up the rent, and that doesn't help our people.

And then those those interests often are not paying their share of taxes in our state either.

And so there is, there's some accountability measures I think we need to put in place.

And also look at where, for example, mobile homes are the largest unsubsidized source of affordable housing for New Mexicans.

And so when you have, private equity or corporations come in and purchase them and then they jack up the rent and people can't afford to move their mobile homes, they end up homeless or in really, really difficult situations.

So there's some legislation that's coming, about, providing people the opportunity to buy, mobile home communities and things that protect renters.

I think we also need to look at the price of groceries and where the state can be helping with things like that.

we should be looking at things like public grocery stores, and looking at unconventional and innovative options for people.

Gotcha.

Same question to you.

I think that affordability is a big problem in the state of New Mexico.

And it has been and I think it has a lot to do with the taxes and the regulations that we have in place.

And, what I am seeing is that we have the property crime rate that is at an all time high, and that really causes things to go up, prices to go up.

It will cause, the, insurance premiums to be really dramatically, high.

And so that's where people are struggling.

And so I think that if we bring the property crime rates down, we will be able to lower the cost and help New Mexicans and all those that are having a hard time with the cost of living.

And despite, declines in crime overall, New Mexico still ranks number one in property crime, in number two in violent crime.

what do you think the state needs to do to address these concerns?

And what would be your plan?

Okay, so, the other side has been controlling so many things for a very long time.

And, when I look at what we need to do is that we need to decrease, recidivism, and we need to.

And it's a revolving door that we have, you know, the catch and release.

We need to be able to eliminate the catch and release, program or policy, I should say.

And right now, I feel like all the criminals are benefitting from the catch and release policy.

That is in place.

And all the victims that have suffered have not received any help at all.

I will be happy to help the victims that are suffering at this point in time in regards to the tragedies, tragedies that they have suffered.

And right now my opponent is, endorsed by the, families, you know, working families, by the democratic socialist.

And we don't need to defund the police.

So I will fight to help the victims that have suffered.

And same question to you.

Well, for one, I think we need to support law enforcement and accountability.

So at no point in my campaign have I ever said to defund the police.

I am supported by the working families Party, and there are differences between making sure that you're addressing prevention and recidivism and addressing root causes, and not just reacting after the fact.

So I think we need to support law enforcement and accountability.

We also need to address that community trust has been breached, you know, community and law enforcement, a lot of times community doesn't trust law enforcement.

So we have to ask ourselves, why is that happening and what needs to happen to to repair that relationship?

I think we need to be looking at, you know, there are large amount of trauma that people have undergone.

And so, again, looking at root causes, what's going on there and where can we look at prevention and not just reacting after the fact?

Finally, if we're going to get really serious about rehabilitation, New Mexico should not have privately owned prisons because they make money off of each body that's in the prison.

They don't make money off of rehabilitating people.

And so we need to be serious about how our, how our, you know, detention centers are structured.

And do we want programing in there that actually helps people get better.

And finally, please take the last minute to share any other policy ideas or anything else you'd like to accomplish.

if you get elected into the House.

Sure.

Well, my priorities are around, expanding access to health care.

really having that conversation about universal health care?

I've been in my work.

I've worked towards, passing paid family medical leave for the last few years.

So we really need to get that across the finish line.

I want to be continue to be a champion for working families and for workers, making sure that we have dignified wages for our workers, but also safe working conditions.

and finally, in education, you know, most of my work as a social worker is in, education, and often in, in mental health as well, but really making sure that we have, a comprehensive education system from early childhood all the way to career readiness and making sure that our, public education department and early childhood departments are investing in strategies that we know work things like career technical education and work based learning and mentorship, and quality early childhood education for our kids.

Same question do you, as a former Dona Ana County Commissioner, I believe that my record speaks for itself as a county commissioner and chairwoman of the county, I was able to spearhead and secure a $10.2 million road initiative to fix roads, opened the crisis triage center for health care, and I believe that, this experience and a proven leader has, given me the ability to be able to be, the next state representative for district 37.

I will work for the community and work on education because it's getting worse and worse at record spending.

And the other side has literally destroyed and have that nothing about the education system.

And even if I think about cyfd, which needs serious reform, they have done nothing.

And so I am willing to continue to work with my community, listen to the needs, work together, and to be able to, get things done for our community and that they will no longer feel like no one is listening to them.

Here in southern New Mexico.

Isabella Solis, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you for having me.

And Lori Martinez, thank you for joining us as well.

A pleasure.

Thank you.

And thank you for watching election 2026 coverage on KRWG Public Media.

Stay tuned for more.

KRWG Public Media's election 2026 coverage continues now with the New Mexico State House district 36 candidate forum featuring Democratic incumbent Nathan Small.

It's great to be here.

And Republican candidate Julia Ruiz.

Thank you for having me.

Each candidate has one minute to answer each question and we will alternate who answers first.

We ask that candidates do not mention each other by name.

We will start with Nathan Small, great.

And it's been no secret that data centers have been a hot topic of debate in the state, but also the country.

What do you see as the state's role in new data centers, but also existing ones?

Yeah, such an important question.

I think that we need a statewide moratorium to put in place very strong state rules, guardrails around a few key areas.

Those key areas start with water.

We need to actually move these large projects, data centers or other big economic development projects away from using fresh water, and using water at all for any of their cooling activities.

if they use water, it should be a closed loop, iron clad system that only takes water one time.

next energy.

I think that, these big economic projects should not only pay for their own energy, but I'm working on legislation with colleagues where they actually invest in the grid, to reduce our energy costs.

when it comes to who they hire, it has to be New Mexicans.

That's where we have done a lot to bring in more apprenticeships and, workforce training.

That is something that has to be front and center.

if the projects cannot meet these standards, they simply shouldn't be here.

And that's where that moratorium is so important.

And, Julie Ruiz, you get the same question.

Yes, sir.

So thank you for the question.

I believe that I do not support a state wide moratorium, but we do need to put a pause on it.

We need to ask more questions.

We need to have more transparency before we move forward.

We rush this project.

I believe, it was just in there too fast.

We did take into consideration the community members, the families, the people that are there.

We didn't ask a lot of questions, and we didn't have enough transparency to actually say, this is a good thing.

This is a bad thing.

It was just put in there without taking into consideration our our people, our New Mexicans, and the constituents of of our well, of New Mexico.

So and after Project Jupiter got announced, some of the attention turned to the state's transparency laws around lobbyist transparency.

I was wondering what you thought of the laws on the books now around that, and what would you like to see changed?

If anything, I would like to see more transparency.

And if there's a conflict of interest, we've got to bring that to light as well.

Again, always questions more transparency before projects like these move forward.

And we've got to ask we've got to ask questions.

We've got to ask the people.

We've got to ask our constituents, do you want this.

What do you want.

Why is it important?

How is it going to benefit our community?

Is it going to benefit our community?

We just need a lot of transparency, a lot of questions and take take New Mexicans into considerations before before we make this decisions and move forward on the and same question to you, Mr.

Small.

Yeah.

I proudly voted for increased lobbyist transparency.

that bills ones passed the House, unfortunately failed on a tie vote last year.

I continue to support that piece of legislation I'm actually quite interested in.

Think New Mexico's proposals to increase, ethics laws here in the state.

In fact, in my very first term, actually, in 2017, I proudly, sponsored and helped pass and was part of the conference committee that got an independent ethics commission over the Hill, and into the constitutional, amendment that we all, as New Mexicans voted to put it in.

So I'm proud of what we have, done with increased transparency and proud to help lead in that area and absolutely support, adding the lobbyist transparency as well as other proposals, to our, rules, regulations and especially our laws.

And according to the infrastructure report card, New Mexico has earned a C in infrastructure quality and has over 200 dams that are in hazardous condition.

you know, after the flooding in Garfield, what do you think needs to be done to help strengthen New Mexico's infrastructure?

And how can you accomplish that?

Yeah.

So is such an important question.

as chair of the House Appropriations Committee and the chair of the Legislative Finance Committee, I have made water infrastructure a key focus in four years in the most recent four years, we have invested more in water than in the previous 20 years in New Mexico combined.

those four years I was chair of the committee.

and what we've done one, we've made very large ones, 250 million, then $100 million investments into the Water Trust Board.

We changed the law so that they can approve projects on a rolling year round basis.

that's actually bringing investment into Dona Ana County for, for large flood control projects when it comes to dam safety and other watershed investments.

I think we're looking at and I'm already working on a large package that goes directly to communities all across the state, working with soil and water conservation districts and many others.

And same question to you.

Yes.

So like you said, there are a lot of funds.

my question is, if there are so many funds, why are we still lacking in updating our infrastructure?

What happened?

Why?

Where are the funds going?

So we've got to again have that measurable outcomes.

Where are they?

Where is the money going?

Why weren't our why isn't our infrastructure up to date if there are so many funds?

Those are my questions.

And that's something that I would like to look into when and if I get elected.

in the legislature.

Thank you.

And according to a recent poll done in New Mexico, the vast majority of voters listed affordability as their biggest concern going into this election cycle.

what do you think can be done to address those concerns?

And, what is your plan for that?

Well, personal income tax, first of all, we need to eliminate that.

We've got to look at our taxes and all of the special interest programs.

Are there are there measurable incomes?

Are they are they what is our return on investment on a lot of these programs?

Why are we spending so much money if they're if we're not seeing any measurable outcomes, we need to stop those.

And we need to look at them.

What is the end result?

Are they helping the people?

Are they not helping the people?

All of our taxes.

Where where are they being used?

Are they being used properly?

Are they helping?

Are these programs actually doing what they say that that they are doing?

So it's something that I would like to take a look at.

And that's one way to to cost cut a lot of our expenses and, and help our taxpayers.

Thank you.

And same question.

Yeah.

affordability right now because of, Donald Trump's war with Iran, the bill that was passed last year in the Republican led Congress, that cut funding for Medicaid, for Snap and for food, that cut funding across the board, across the country have driven affordability to new challenges.

when we were the only state and I was proud that we actually backfilled cuts to Snap and other food benefits during Thanksgiving.

And last year, we are standing ready to continue to support New Mexicans, seniors and others receiving those benefits.

We're the only state to grow our health care enrollment on the health care exchange, because we invested state money there.

We're going to continue to do that using our revenue and our surplus to support New Mexicans, lowering out-of-pocket health care costs, investing, supporting access to food.

when it comes to the price of gas, Donald Trump needs to end the war with Iran.

That is the single biggest factor that has skyrocketed prices with tax cuts.

You off here.

But just getting into the next question, this last year has been, quite a bit of hot water after reporting showed that the, the department dropped a child off the US-Mexico border, there's an investigation from the attorney General's department.

what do you see as the best path forward for this, department?

The UN considerable failures with Cyfd have been front and center.

I have been advocating, along with many colleagues on both sides of the aisles.

We're, looking at taking some responsibilities away from CFT.

We've invested more.

They're unable so far to hire and keep the people that they need, but we need to continue to push them to do that and support creating more social workers, bringing other folks here to the state, the failures when it comes to child safety are absolutely unacceptable.

and so when it comes to increased funding, absolutely, we have to continue to support New Mexico's kiddos, especially the most vulnerable New Mexico kiddos.

But the department is going to have a wholesale change with responsibilities taken away.

New leadership.

and a new culture.

The same question to you.

Yes.

So I absolutely think we need a complete overhaul of CFT.

We need absolutely transparency, more transparency, accountability, which there was none.

And again, that's it's it's horrendous what happened to these children I can't imagine.

But I absolutely support a complete overhaul of CFT with accountability because there, there hasn't been any.

So thank you.

And the decades long Texas, New Mexico, lawsuit has kind of reached a settlement this last year, and it calls for a lot of changes to New Mexico's water, including, giving more water over to Texas, but also cutting groundwater, pumping for 18,200 acre feet of groundwater pumping.

what do you think needs to be done to prepare the state for this?

Going well, and I can be, and I'm going to be honest with you.

Yes, I've heard about that.

I'm not very well versed on that.

That's something that I would like to take a look at once.

If I'm if I'm elected and come up with solutions on that, see what we need to do.

What do we need to do with our water?

Obviously we need to we do need to conserve and we need to take care of our farmers.

So I would like to look into that a lot more research more, more, more of that and come up with solutions to what we what we can do better.

Okay.

And same question.

Yeah.

the Texas feed New Mexico settlement is a very strong step forward.

we've actually had a voluntary fallowing program for several years that I've helped get funding for, and that's reduced.

Depletions.

and I, on a voluntary annual basis as we go into this, next phase, the state is, on it has the responsibility to acquire to buy voluntarily water rights from willing sellers.

We've begun setting aside very significant sums of money.

We're also investing in efficiency in new infrastructure, in updating, working closely with all stakeholders, from environmental advocates to the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, because there are ways to get water, more efficiently to where it needs to go.

There's ways to utilize the storm water and some of the extreme rain that we've seen and are going to see more of, that benefit habitat, that safeguard our valley.

and I am absolutely committed to continuing to invest state resources to implement this settlement, which actually protects New Mexico's water.

And despite, declines in overall crime, New Mexico still ranks number one in property crime and number two in violent crime.

what do you think needs to be done to, help reduce crime and ensure public safety?

So first, I am, very focused on continuing to support local law enforcement.

we've actually invested state funds to help local law enforcement recruit and retain, their law enforcement officers, both Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, as well as Las Cruces Police Department and others around the state have taken advantage of that.

I think we need to continue to do that work.

We've invested in state police, increasing salaries.

We've invested in a wide approach, including, more infrastructure.

But it goes deeper than that as we work to bring more folks into the workforce, invest in economic opportunity.

That's a huge piece.

Cyfd reform and working with folks much earlier in their lives is actually a key part of this, because what we end up seeing are some horrendous cases.

And folks who go from lower level crime to really awful, acts.

Finally, I think we do need to continue to, add new laws and stronger, consequences as we go forward, which and same question to you.

Yes.

So I think we absolutely need to support our police.

We need to work on training or continue to train work on retention.

We also need other juvenile, programs.

We've got to have treatment centers.

We've got to stop them before they get to the before they escalate in crime.

We've got to hold people accountable.

Parents accountable.

again, invest often in our law enforcement, our juvenile system.

We've got to update some of these laws and hold criminals accountable.

So thank you.

And according to the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, the state receives roughly 48% of its revenue from that industry.

what does the future of this industry look like, and how can the state balance its climate goals while also having this industry?

Well, again, we know that oil and gas that support a lot of New Mexico with education, with, law enforcement, with with a lot of things that oil and gas does.

Well, they're basically supporting a lot of a lot of the programs that we, that we have.

we need to thank them.

We really do need to thank them for that and continue to to work and balance everything with with our environment.

Take care of the environment, the water, our our air.

there's got to be a balance.

And, again, take care of take care of what we have right now.

So thank you.

And same question to you.

Yeah I'm going to start with methane.

We have some of the strongest in the NFA in the nation.

Methane rules.

we need to codify those and actually increase that standard.

Right now it's 98% capture.

We can go higher than that and functionally eliminate methane waste.

Methane is the most potent climate change causing gas.

It has a very strong effect.

and I think we can actually set a stronger standard here and help raise the bar all across, the southwest.

We are, producing a great deal of oil.

the 48% actually takes into account our permanent funds.

we've actually reduced the amount of our general fund annually that comes from oil and gas, through insulation, and through creation of other trust funds and sovereign wealth funds.

as we go forward, we have a key role as the second largest oil producing state in the entire country to set the cleanest, strongest standards, which I've been proud to do.

We've, set we've brought back penalties, that can be, filed against bad actors.

I think in both of those areas, we can continue to move forward.

And finally, please take the last minute to share any other policy ideas you have or any other stands with voters.

Yeah.

right now in New Mexico, we have a, really generational and in some ways kind of state defining opportunity.

Because of our strong budgets, we are investing in, free, childcare, in universal access to higher education, universal child care.

We are the only state that grew our health care exchange enrollment because we invested state dollars.

I am focused on moving us forward, utilizing these resources to invest in New Mexicans.

So there's somebody who, you know, so privileged to get to be born and raised in this state that we're actually investing and making the opportunity for New Mexicans greater now than it's ever been.

At the same time, we are defending New Mexicans every single day because of the Trump administration, when what's happening nationally is causing increase credible economic pain, huge, worry and problems.

And it's going to continue to do that.

So I'm going to continue to defend New Mexicans.

And final question.

Same to you.

Thank you.

So I would like to say that free is not free.

Tax payers are paying for a lot of these, services.

And that's not okay.

I don't mind helping them out, helping people out, but at the end of the day, there's got to be a self-sufficiency at some point to where they can they can become productive citizens of our society.

And I would like to look at a lot of these special interest projects, programs and make sure that they are that we are receiving a good investment, that we are doing what we are helping the people.

Instead of saying, this is free, it's not it's not free.

taxpayers are paying for that.

We need measurable outcomes to these programs.

And that's what I would like to do.

And whenever I do hopefully get elected and, again, look at our taxes where where is our money being spent?

How is it being spent?

Is it being spent properly?

And are we having are we having a return on investment done with these programs?

Thank you.

Nathan Small and Julia Ruiz.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you for having thank you.

Thanks.

And thank you for watching election 2026 coverage on KRWG Public Media.

Stay tuned for more.

Thanks for watching election 2026 coverage on KRWG Public Media.

You can find all our candidate forums and interviews at K KRWG.org Welcome to the forum for New Mexico State House district 53 Democratic incumbent Sarah Silva.

Great to be here, Noah.

Thanks.

And Republican candidate Ben Luna.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

Each will have one minute to answer each question and we will alternate who answers first.

We ask that each candidate does not mention the other by name.

We will start with Sarah Silva and just start off.

Data centers have been a hot topic of debate around the country, but also in the states.

What do you think the state's role should be in, addressing these data centers and also the ones that may come in the future?

Thanks, Noah.

So Project Jupiter deceived our community.

They made promises about clean air and water.

And, they also, meanwhile, were having lobbyists in Santa Fe undermining and undoing our clean energy rules.

and they made promises about jobs and clean water, and ultimately, they lied.

And that's what made an opponent out of me.

was when they started to break promises, in the future, in the next 60 days.

I'm working on legislation that would tax hyperscale data centers.

but also I'm bringing back my lobbyist transparency bill.

that could have stopped, bills and the undoing of our clean energy rules.

like what we saw in the last session.

And same question to you, Mr.

Luna.

Yeah.

It is a pattern that we are seeing throughout the nation, and it's a pattern of the lack of transparency.

And so when people only get about three minutes and sometimes not even three minutes to voice their opinion on the matter, that's that's horrible.

And it's not a good relationship that we have with the project.

developers.

And so what I've seen in the county commissions, the fact that the county commissioners don't even believe the words of oracles promises that needs to be restored and, the fact that they are making steps in bringing people in as far as, keeping eyes on on the project.

I think that's a good step forward as far as legislation.

I think, there's a lot of things that were already in place that were bypassed in the attorney general pointed that out.

And so a lot of that needs to be in place still, and it needs to be enforced.

And so going forward, there's ways to be a good project, a good neighbor with the community.

And I think, they need to take better steps in that direction.

And according to the infrastructure report card, New Mexico earned a C grade, as in terms of the infrastructure quality in the state and had over 200 high hazard dams.

I was wondering, what do you think should be done at the state level to address this, especially after the Garfield flooding?

And what can you do about this?

Yeah.

I went to a meeting, actually, here in Las Cruces and in some of the areas where they were most affected, and it's almost like roadblock after roadblock, the county commission, they can they could actually fix, a lot of the issues while the damage is happening and in a case of an emergency, but once it stops raining, then their emergency ends and they can't do anything else.

And so I think their hands are tied.

I think we need to, fix some things at the state legislature that allows for funding to go to certain individuals because right now the problem is, is there's a lot of people in the private entity, entities that are doing a lot of the work.

And, and state funds can't go to private entities.

And so there needs to be some kind of better, cooperation and coordination between multiple agencies.

And that is happening.

but there's a lot of things slow balling, resources, getting to communities.

And same question to you.

So the Water Trust Board has been investing hundreds of millions of dollars in, flood control and, stormwater mitigation.

And so and the county has, I think, received about $49 million in water trust board.

money.

And in the last two years on the Otero side, because House district 53 is also in Otero, they've received about, a little under 20 million.

And I think those projects are going to do immense work in making sure that our neighborhoods don't get flooded when there's a lot of rain during monsoon season.

and to strengthen, the berms and different infrastructure we have for waterways.

I also think that, the anti donation clause is really important policy that we need in place.

and I think that there's a lot of creative ways that we can look at making sure that infrastructure repairs are getting to our communities.

And what changes to New Mexico's tax policy would you like to see that could be income, really anything.

But would you like to see New Mexico do in the future?

So I sit on Taxation and Revenue committee, and I've been nerding out on tax policy for the last two years.

One of the things I'm really excited about is, reforming our rural health care tax credit, because we need to retain and recruit more health care providers.

And so I sponsored a bill last session that would have expanded the tax credit in order to make sure that our health care professionals are practicing more and have more ability to keep their doors open.

the other thing is taxing data centers.

I think there's a lot of opportunity to tax existing ones.

while we're working on regulating or potentially a moratorium on any new or future, build outs.

And same question to you.

Yeah.

So the should be eliminated, I believe, for housing.

this is a pretty good example, a $375,000 home, 80,000 of the, of that cost is actually.

And other taxes and regulations.

And so the state government has a big part to play in lowering the cost for consumers.

And that's just one industry.

if you go to the health care industry, it's the same thing when when doctors see that they're going to lose money if they relocate to New Mexico, they're going to lose money in taxes, lose money in, in, in, the liability costs as well.

It, it it affects all consumers.

And so if you buy groceries, it's going to affect you any industry at all.

And kind of piggybacking off of that topic.

according to a poll earlier this year, affordability was ranked as the top issue for New Mexicans heading into this election cycle.

what do you think the state can do to address those concerns?

Yeah.

So eliminating the income tax that's been pushed before.

I think they should, consider it with oil and gas revenues being at a all time high.

and not only that, like taxes that, that affect, everyday life.

And so when you eliminate the tax burden that, that goes downhill, the trucking industry, they deliver all the products that we, shop for and in grocery stores and any market.

And so when we pay less, we have more.

And, that's what I want to do for district 53.

So same question to you.

The biggest thing that's threatening people, making life workable for them right now is, high interest rates at the federal level.

unworkable tariffs that the Trump administration has enacted, and, and wars that are just increasing our gas prices.

and so any candidate that is working in support of those policies, one is hurting New Mexicans.

And, in the last session, in the last 60 days session, I, sponsored a bill that would have banned AI dynamic pricing at the grocery store so that it doesn't feel like we're going to a casino when we're going into to buy our food for the week.

And so, I'll be bringing that bill up again so that, you know, large corporations aren't meddling with our food prices.

and we helped preserve snap and Medicaid, and those are some of the biggest, bills for our families to pay.

And so, I'll continue to do that without using our tax dollars.

And despite drops in overall crime, New Mexico still ranks number one in property crime and number two in violent crime.

what steps would you like to see the state take?

And what would you, support steps.

So, I want to talk about a great story in chaparral.

So when I first started Doorknocking there, I heard about, dogs running rampant in the neighborhoods, packs of dogs.

And we don't have a single sheriff substation, in chaparral or an ambulance bay.

And so when someone calls 911, it takes a really long time to get help.

And so, over two years, with Republicans, I helped secure $5 million.

We're going to break ground on a, public safety facility in chaparral, by the end of this year.

And so that's one of the thing the states can do is help fund infrastructure like that.

That's necessary for public safety, especially in our most rural, far flung areas.

And same question to you.

Yeah.

So actually, the last session, there was a committee that has a reputation of killing your bills.

And one of those bills was House Joint Resolution two, which would have reversed the, the catch and release policies.

And so whenever the, local police department in Las Cruces has to reach out to the federal government, that's an issue.

And that's because criminals aren't being being, held accountable.

There's no responsibility being taken.

Sometimes they're let out the same day.

And, that's a reputation the entire state has.

And so I would like to put a spotlight on that issue, that that was a good bill that could have fixed that issue, bail reform.

And so if we can, be louder about that, I think, we can hold our legislators accountable.

And after reporting from this year showing that Cyfd dropped the child off on the US-Mexico border and an investigation by the AG's office into the department's, many have called for reform, ranging from, completely overhauling the system to just having more oversight of that department.

What do you see as the best path forward for that department?

Well, I do know they're undermanned.

as far as, social workers and, not only that, there's a lot of other issues as well.

So they I've interviewed with, multiple mothers throughout the state where allegations could be made up and their kids are taken from them, and then they have to go to court and clear their names.

So there's a lot of issues with CFD that really need to be, not just reformed, but it needs an overhaul.

And there's people like Rebecca Doe that have had had to be loud about it, throughout the state.

And, and then I believe the mothers and when they, when they hear these type of situations, and they know that their voice is going to be heard, that they're willing to speak up.

And I've had a lot of families reach out about, CFD and, many false allegations.

it's it it's pretty concerning.

And I think, the legislature needs to do something about it.

And same question to you.

In a lot of the cases that we hear through CFD are very real, and they impact our families and our neighborhoods, and our communities and our schools.

And I have sat on appropriations hearing from CFD, and when I walk away from those meetings, I come away with this agency is bloated and there's a lack of transparency, and it is a shell game of trying to figure out what is happening, where and who is responsible for what.

And so I would recommend and I would fully support, moving oversight away from the governor's office, giving independent oversight of CFD.

and I know that the Democrats are going to be proposing, sweeping reforms that I'm really excited to look at and, and vote for.

And New Mexico is ranked near the bottom in terms of education for quite some time.

what steps do you think are needed to be made to turn this around?

I wish that, education policy could be solved just in the classroom and just with what happens in the classroom.

but it's not.

And so we need to make sure that kids are ready to learn and walk into that classroom, and not be hungry or hurt or unhoused.

And so we have to look at a really holistic approach, at how we're helping students be ready to learn in the classroom.

And I'm really excited about, like the education study committee, recently came out saying that they believe, through various studies and data, that the thing that makes a difference is the administrators and the principals that are in those schools that when there's really good leadership at the top, that then it really motivates but also holds accountable the teachers and the educators in that school.

and then when teachers and educators are showing up consistent and with rigor that their students show up really their best.

And so I'm really looking forward to thinking about how we can support really good administrators in every school.

And same question you.

Yeah.

So I like to tell people this story.

there was a bill that was once submitted in our legislature that was used in Mississippi, and that that bill was implemented in Mississippi, and they call it the Mississippi Miracle.

And they've gone, I believe, to either 20 or 16, in the nation from last.

We were competing with them for last.

And so I think we have a good bill that would help our, our, schools, our teachers.

And I believe that, includes adding a tutor to, every classroom.

And so we have good bills, but they usually go to committees that are known, for killing good bills.

And it's a project Jupiter was announced.

A lot of focus turned to some of the transparency laws around lobbyist transparency.

what are your thoughts on the laws that are currently on the books and what would you like to see changed?

changed?

I don't have any, I don't have much understanding, but I do know, based on, you know, bills that have been passed concerning the lobbyists, I think the same standard needs to be across the board.

And so if it's just for profit and it's just, corporations or lobbyists, I think it needs to be for all non-profits as well, because a lot of non-profits within the state they fund, they fund PACs, they fund, state candidates, they fund, legislation as well.

And so I think that needs to be fair and transparent across the board.

And same question to you.

So I sponsored, lobbyist transparency bills in the last two sessions.

I was in, the lobbyist reporting act, whatever required every single lobbyist, both nonprofit and for profit corporations, small businesses, anyone who pays for a lobbyist in the roundhouse to report on the bills that they're either working for or against.

Senator Steinberg was my co-sponsor.

And, the first year in the 60 day, we got it to the governor.

She vetoed it.

and then the second year, we, failed to get it passed the House.

Every single Republican voted against it, both times.

And so, we really need to create some bipartisan support for lobbyist transparency.

it can't just be a Democratic issue.

And, I'm going to keep pushing for it this year because, the thing is, is things like Project Jupiter cannot get snuck past microgrid bills, can't, can't get snuck past us again.

And finally, feel free to take the last minute to talk about any other policy plans you have or anything else you'd like to accomplish if elected.

So, I was really proud to be one of the main sponsors of medical malpractice reform.

I have a House bill 99. and that bill came from a groundswell of doctors and patients in House district 53.

I think they really turned the tide on the issue and got it passed this year.

and we can't be done there.

So there's a lot of work to still retain recruit health care providers.

I'm really excited to work on career technical education that can build up our health care workforce, but also our construction workers, but also our early childhood educators.

universal Child Care is going to be a brand new program that not only is going to let people have free childcare, but it's also going to provide an economic development opportunity for those who are running daycare centers, but provide, a chance for those parents to go back to work if they want.

And last question.

Same thing.

Yeah, I would say, affordability and infrastructure.

those are some of the highest, complaints I've received, because they say it was promised a year ago or it was promised two years ago, and we haven't seen anything concerning roads.

And so what we are seeing concerning the floods in the infrastructure, it's on full display right now.

And so, that needs to be sped up.

That process needs to be sped up.

The gas tax needs to go to our roads.

and things that were meant as far as funding for our communities, it needs to go there.

And I think a lot of people are losing hope that, their taxes are not being well spent and, and it's not reaching their district.

And so I think that needs to be resolved.

I think we need to see more results.

We need to see not just projects, but we need to see good projects, good product delivered to the to the people of district 53.

And I've told people as a business owner, you have to deliver a good product.

And I don't think we've been delivered a good product for a while.

Sarah Silver and Ben Luna, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you.

And thank you for watching KRWG Public Medias 2026 election coverage, early voting in New Mexico ends Saturday.

In Texas, It ends Friday and Election day is Tuesday.