A nurse practitioner and a retired U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer are vying for the Republican nomination to the New Mexico House of Representatives District 27 seat, and both say their professional backgrounds make them well-equipped to represent the district covering Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights neighborhood.
Jahnelle Garcia and Robert “Bob” Godshall both hope to represent the roughly 6.5-square-mile district, which features approximately 23,000 registered voters, one-third of whom are Republicans.
District 27 is the only New Mexico House race to feature both a Republican and Democratic primary. Whoever wins the Republican primary will face either incumbent Democratic Rep. Marian Matthews or her challenger Abby Foster. (Source NM profiled those candidates here.)
Source NM spoke to both Republican candidates about their visions for the seat. Their answers have been edited for clarity and concision.
Jahnelle Garcia
The District 27 primary marks Garcia’s first foray into politics. She owns several small businesses, including a home health care company that provides palliative hospice care, as well as a primary care practice and medical spa. She said her day job caring for some of New Mexico’s sickest patients has given her unique insight into the state’s doctor shortage, as well as how that trend is connected to the state’s failures on education, public safety and other issues.
“There’s so many issues that have been going on in our state that I felt like somebody needed to stand up and fight,” she said. “This wasn’t something I ever planned on doing. I’m not a politician, just a health care provider and worker, but here I am.”
What do you see as the biggest issue in House District 27?
I believe it’s stability. I think that everything comes back to that. If you look at the statistics of the variance of age, House District 27 is a district of working families and seniors, people trying to stay safe, afford their homes, have access to health care, build a future right here in New Mexico. But right now, too many families are on the edge. They’re on the cusp of eviction, struggling with rising costs, unable to find a doctor. They’re concerned about public safety in their neighborhoods.
What’s the most important issue facing New Mexico?
The most important issue facing New Mexico is the ability to compete, create a future where families and especially our children can succeed and stay. Right now, we’re losing businesses, health care providers and workforce talent because we made it too difficult to grow here. So we need to reduce taxes, cut unnecessary regulatory burdens, support small businesses, invest in workforce development.
I also believe we have to be responsible with our resources. Oil and gas remain a key driver of our economy. Those revenues should be used to diversify and strengthen long-term growth, not expand government.
If you’re elected, what is the first bill you would introduce?
I think I would call it the ‘Community Safety and Workforce Recovery Act.’ It would be a comprehensive approach to addressing the root causes of crime while strengthening opportunities across New Mexico. This legislation would actually expand access to mental health treatment by increasing funding for community-based treatment center crisis response services and recovery programs. I think that there should be better coordination between health care providers, law enforcement and the courts to ensure individuals struggling with addiction and mental health challenges are directed into treatment, not just cycling through the system.
The bill would also establish workforce development pathways. I think that creating incentives for local businesses to partner in apprenticeship and hiring programs would really help connect people to stable and long-term employment.
What’s your top choice for a committee?
My top choice would be Health and Human Services, or possibly Judiciary. I bring frontline experience in the health care system. I want real results, and I believe that I can bring that.
What’s your strongest skill that makes you the best candidate for the race?
I don’t just talk about problems. I build solutions that work. I’ve built multiple businesses. I’ve created jobs. I brought people together to get these things done.
Do you support paying state lawmakers, and would you accept a salary?
I am probably going to be the only person that you interview that says this, but I really feel like public service should not become a career path driven by compensation. I really feel like ensuring taxpayer dollars are focused on what matters most: education, public safety, healthcare access and economic growth.
Robert “Bob” Godshall
After retiring in 2008 after 28 years as a Border Patrol agent, Robert Godshall has devoted his time to volunteering and campaigning for fellow Republican candidates and even running himself. He ran for the District 27 seat in 2018, 2020 and 2022, losing by a small margin to a Democrat, including incumbent Rep. Marian Matthews, in each of those races.
He told Source NM he decided to run again due to what he calls the Democratic majority’s “complete failure” to address crime, homelessness, illegal immigration and the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department.
“If you want to boil it down to one thing, I’m running because I think there needs to be more common sense in the state Legislature,” he said.
What do you see as the biggest issue in House District 27?
I think it’s crime. Crime fostered by homelessness. You know, I live in a neighborhood where there’s a Walgreens and there’s a tremendous amount of theft that goes on at the Walgreens. We’re seeing people on the street asking for money that we didn’t used to see four years ago. I live in a neighborhood where it’s fairly closed down as far as access, and I woke up one morning to a homeless guy sitting on my sidewalk playing with the rocks in my yard.
What’s the most important issue facing New Mexico?
We’re not producing educated young people. We don’t give them economic opportunities. So people are not relocating here. It’s a state that is actually losing population.
And you look at all the things that we have: great weather. We don’t have water, but we do have the means of producing water. We need to look at brackish water. If we can go to the moon and back like we just did, we can desalinate brackish water, but we have to make smart energy choices, like small modular nuclear reactors, which can both power cities with normal energy and with the excess energy, desalinate the water, because desalination requires a lot of energy. I don’t know if you know this, but we’re like the Saudi Arabia of brackish water. We could export desalinated water.
If you’re elected, what is the first bill you would introduce?
I think I would introduce bills to repeal some of the nonsense that’s come out of the Democrat Legislature in the past, like House Bill 9 [the Immigrant Safety Act] or the Nondisclosure of Sensitive Personal Information Act]. You know, we need fewer laws in this state, not more. Government only makes things worse.
I would definitely like to work with some people on passing some crime bills that are necessary. We need to do something about the juvenile detention system.
What’s your strongest skill that makes you the best candidate for the race?
My federal law enforcement experience. The state Legislature seems to want to venture into areas where it really doesn’t have a whole lot of experience.
What’s your top choice for a committee?
I’d be happy to serve on any committee and do the best job that I can.
Do you support paying state lawmakers, and would you accept a salary?
Luckily, I’m in a position where I don’t need a salary. I do think I can see the case for being made for legislators to be paid, but I think the amount that they settled on, $67,000 a year, is way out of proportion.
