Democrat Juan de Jesus Sanchez III and Republican Michael Perry are locked in a fierce contest to succeed outgoing two-term Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard. This as federal environmental rollbacks fuel a scramble by both Washington and private industry to dig into the state’s natural riches.
The agency rakes in around $2 billion a year from mining, drilling, farming and leases. The money keeps public schools, universities and hospitals afloat, with schools alone taking a whopping 85 per cent.
Both men said they will champion rural voices and put long-term stewardship above short-term cash grabs. But their paths to achieve that goal could hardly be more different.
Sanchez, 34, from Los Chavez, is the Democratic Party, touted as the party’s rising star with powerful friends in high places. He is a former political director for US Senator Martin Heinrich, who has publicly backed him. He vowed to break the party’s alleged city-centric habit.
“It’s been a campaign where we have been out and about in the community, traveling to every corner of the state and just really connecting with people all across the state,” he said. ‘I think for too long a lot of Democrats have focused too much on the major… cities, and we’re trying to buck that trend.”
Perry, 54, of Roswell, portrays himself as the ultimate outsider to the partisan circus. The Republican brands himself a centrist who ‘hate[s] being put in that box’ of the far right and insists: “I’m environmentalist. I’m very, very different from the concept that people are trying to paint me under.”
He wants decisions on mining, energy, oil and gas taken at the local level, sitting down with county commissioners and tribal governments to ask: “Can we do this on state land? Will it make money for you?”
New Mexico ranks among America’s energy powerhouses. The state is fourth in natural gas, third overall, second in crude oil. Both candidates say they want a mix of renewables and traditional extraction.
The similarities end there.
Sanchez promises to maximise local benefits from green projects, carbon credit leases and restoration deals, while continuing Garcia Richard’s hardline policies, banning new uranium mines and a moratorium on oil and gas leases near sacred Chaco Canyon.
Perry backs a diverse energy mix but rejects the uranium ban. He favours pragmatic local control with strict environmental safeguards and reclamation plans.
”Before somebody says, ‘You’re not going to get it; under no circumstances are you going to be able to create an economy in your county,’ I want to look at it pragmatically and say, ‘If we can fix this, can we do it safely?’ and if it’s environmentally unfriendly, I’m against it.”
On the land itself, Perry points to decades of forest mismanagement, which he blames for catastrophic wildfires and ruined watersheds. He wants better timber management, healthier forests and more equitable access for hunters and outdoor lovers.
Sanchez is pushing creative revenue streams that still protect the land for generations, including carbon credits, and conservation easements. He plans a brand-new assistant commissioner post dedicated solely to stewardship and outdoor recreation.
Their CVs are equally impressive.
Sanchez cut his teeth as a natural resource specialist with the US Army Corps of Engineers, and sat on the New Mexico Acequia Commission. He comes from a family that has farmed and ranched the Middle Rio Grande Valley for 13 generations, including on state leases.
He has banked $462,241 in campaign cash, with NextEra Energy among the biggest donors, and spent $276,867.
Perry spent more than 30 years as a wildlife warden before rising to assistant commissioner at the State Land Office itself, running large landscape restoration projects. He now chairs the Chaves County Commission as vice chair and sits on a national public lands policy committee.
His haul stands at $349,096, including donations from oil and gas interests, with just $128,356 spent so far.
With Garcia Richard jumping for the lieutenant governor race on Deb Haaland’s ticket, the winner of this contest will inherit one of the most powerful, and lucrative, posts in New Mexico at a moment when the pressure to develop or protect has never been higher.
