Current:Home > InvestRepublican New Mexico Senate leader won’t seek reelection-InfoLens
Republican New Mexico Senate leader won’t seek reelection
View Date:2024-12-23 14:32:24
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The top-ranked Republican in the New Mexico Senate won’t seek reelection this year as his party reckons with the first election since a redistricting plan from Democrats merged two GOP-led districts.
Senate Republican leader Greg Baca of Belen said his decision to leave the Senate by year’s end was informed by conversations with his family, prayer and attention to new political boundaries adopted by the Democrat-led Legislature in 2021.
“Careful observers of the progressive plan to pit two Hispanic Republicans against each other through redistricting may have seen this coming,” said Baca in a statement, while endorsing Republican state Sen. Josh Sanchez in the merged district. “In short, I refuse to allow the radical left to pit brother against brother.”
State legislative candidates raced against a Tuesday-evening deadline to submit signature petitions that can qualify them for the state’s June 4 primary and November general election.
Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-1 in the state Senate, amid a wave of retirement announcements that could tilt the partisan balance next year. The entire Legislature is up for election in November.
In drawing new Senate districts, the Legislature embraced recommendations from Native American communities for shoring up Indigenous voting blocs in the northwest of the state. But Republicans at the same time bristled at provisions that merged two Republican-held districts.
The Legislature’s annual session adjourned in mid-February with approval of several public safety initiatives and an annual budget plan that slows down a spending spree linked to an oil production bonanza in the Permian Basin that overlaps southeastern New Mexico and portions of Texas.
Separately on Tuesday, four state House Republican legislators from southeastern New Mexico and Farmington urged the state land commissioner to reverse course on her decision to withhold some lease sales for oil and gas development until the Legislature agrees to raise royalty rates in premium tracts from 20% to 25%.
A letter to Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard warns of possible unintended consequences including job losses and reduced government income if petroleum producers redirect investments from New Mexico to other oil fields. It was signed by Republican state Reps. Jim Townsend of Artesia, Larry Scott of Hobbs, Rod Montoya of Farmington and Jared Hembree of Roswell.
State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said the state will forgo a trove of income and investment returns over the lifetime of future leases if royalties stay capped at 20%. In New Mexico, royalty payments from oil and gas development on state trust land are deposited in a multibillion-dollar investment trust that benefits public schools, universities and hospitals.
The accountability and budget office of the Legislature says a 25% royalty rate cap would increase annual revenues by $50 million to $75 million.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Mattel says it ‘deeply’ regrets misprint on ‘Wicked’ dolls packaging that links to porn site
- Dead satellite ERS-2 projected hurtle back to Earth on Wednesday, space agency says
- As Congress lags, California lawmakers take on AI regulations
- When does tax season end in 2024? Here's when you should have your taxes filed this year.
- NBC's hospital sitcom 'St. Denis Medical' might heal you with laughter: Review
- Married at First Sight's Jamie Otis Is Pregnant, Expecting Baby No. 3 With Doug Hehner
- Olympian Scott Hamilton Shares He's Not Undergoing Treatment for 3rd Brain Tumor
- 'Dune: Part Two' nails the dismount in the conclusion(?) of the sweeping sci-fi saga
- Trump breaks GOP losing streak in nation’s largest majority-Arab city with a pivotal final week
- Rare incident: Colorado man dies after pet Gila monster bites him
Ranking
- 'Yellowstone's powerful opening: What happened to Kevin Costner's John Dutton?
- Alabama hospital puts pause on IVF in wake of ruling saying frozen embryos are children
- It’s an election year, and Biden’s team is signaling a more aggressive posture toward the press
- Man faces potential deportation after sentencing in $300,000 Home Depot theft scheme, DOJ says
- ‘Heretic’ and Hugh Grant debut with $11 million, but ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ tops box office again
- 15-year-old goes missing while on vacation in Galveston, Texas; Amber Alert issued
- Harvard condemns student and faculty groups for posting antisemitic cartoon
- Police investigate traffic stop after West Virginia official seen driving erratically wasn’t cited
Recommendation
-
West Virginia governor-elect Morrisey to be sworn in mid-January
-
Summer House's Carl Radke Addresses Drug Accusation Made by Ex Lindsay Hubbard
-
Abortion rights could complicate Republican Larry Hogan’s Senate bid in deep blue Maryland
-
Customers sue Stanley, say the company failed to disclose presence of lead in tumblers
-
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Something Corporate
-
Malia Obama Is Now Going by This Stage Name
-
Why Capital One wants Discover
-
King Charles III Shares Tearful Reaction to Supporters Amid Cancer Battle