In a district still reeling from the devastation of the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon fires, first-time candidate Nancy Wright is looking to unseat two-term Rep. Joseph Sanchez in the June 2 Democratic primary.
District 40 spans across four rural counties in the state’s northeast corner: Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Mora and Colfax. The district blooms from the northern portion of Española up to the state line with Colorado, including much of New Mexico’s mountain forests and some rangelands.
Wright, a Las Vegas pediatrician, said Sanchez is failing to represent the district on climate change, women’s reproductive health and public health access, and criticized his representation in the aftermath of the 2022 wildfires.
“He hasn’t made his presence known here,” Wright said. “This community has gone through with all the destruction from the fires and the disruption, we’re still rebuilding.”
Sanchez, the general manager for an electrical co-op, disputed Wright’s criticism, and defended his record of sponsoring legislation in 2023 to provide $100 million in state funds to fill in gaps from federal funds and securing additional funds this year to test private wells in Mora County for contamination from fire suppressants.
“I defended that on the House floor, myself, personally,” he said. “So, I’m not sure she has all her ducks in a row.”
The winner of the Democratic primary as of now does not face a general election opponent in November (deadlines to register as an Independent, minor party or write-in candidate follow the primary election).
Source NM posed several questions to both candidates about their races. Their answers have been edited for clarity and concision.
Joseph Sanchez
Joseph Sanchez, from Alcalde, is the general manager and CEO of Jemez Mountain Electric Cooperative, and has a background in engineering.
First elected to the New Mexico House in 2018, Sanchez, 45, left in 2020 to make a bid for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District seat, coming third in that primary. He ran for his old state House seat again in 2022 and beat his successor Roger Montoya.
Sanchez said his primary motivation in running for reelection is “continuing to help the state.”
“We have a lot of issues that need addressing,” he said. “Opportunity for our youth, more jobs helping our senior citizens and children.”
What’s the most important issue facing District 40?
Right now, it’s the poverty level, affordability. Half our constituents are below the poverty level, so working on getting people out of that phase. We’ve done a lot of work with early childhood, and hopefully we’ll see the results of that. With the passage of free college, I think we’re addressing education from early childhood and the college level. I think we have a lot more work to do at the elementary and high school levels.
What’s the most important issue facing New Mexico?
Everything is tied to poverty, the drug epidemic, education, they’re all intermingled. We just have got to get to the core of all those things. Some of the major moves, passing universal child care — which I support for people that need it; I don’t support it for millionaires — hopefully, that’ll be beneficial.
What is the first bill you’d introduce in the 2027 legislative session?
Something I previously introduced was a trust fund to pay for school for doctors, nurses and other people in the medical field. I’m going to probably reintroduce that in this next session. I know medical malpractice was a huge issue, I was one of the underlying sponsors for that, so I think we have a lot more work to do on that.
What’s your top choice of committee?
Right now, I’m on the House Appropriation and Finance Committee, so we work on the budget. I plan to continue on that and advocate for the issues I mentioned.
What’s your strongest skill that makes you the best pick for voters?
My ability to work with everyone across the aisle, just to basically do things that are right for the district, as opposed to popular California issues that we see pushed sometimes in Santa Fe.
I know right now there’s a push for shutting off oil and gas, which funds a good chunk of our state budget. We’ve got to continue to move policy to make things cleaner, but we’ve got to make a move that ensures prices stay affordable. We can push wind and solar, but natural gas also needs to be part of the equation.
Do you support paying lawmakers?
No, I voted against that. When I signed up, I took the job knowing that I’d have to make some sacrifices. I think that legislators that come into office should have some experience in the real world.
Nancy Wright
Nancy Wright, born and raised in Southern California, came to New Mexico in 2002 where she continued her work as a pediatrician. Wright, 55, lives in northern San Miguel County and says she can see the burn scar from her husband’s veterinary practice in Sapello.
Wright, a former president with the New Mexico Medical Society, said actions taken in the 2026 legislative session — including House Bill 99, the medical malpractice reform bill — prompted her campaign.
“House Bill 99 was a step in the right direction, and I recognize the hard work that members of the Legislature put in, and all kinds of stakeholders involved in that bill. Unfortunately, it’s just not quite enough to bring doctors back,” Wright said, adding that she would look at legislation to address high punitive damages for doctors.
“I would be the only practicing physician in the House, and that experience is critical,” she said.
What’s the most important issue facing District 40?
Health care access and medical care. I live in a maternity care desert; there’s no place nearby to deliver a baby in a hospital setting. Alta Vista Regional Hospital, the closest to here, lost labor and delivery services years ago. We’ve lost doctors. There’s a lot of really hard-working people, ranchers, and we’re so far away from any trauma services.
What’s the most important issue facing New Mexico?
Trying to grow our state economically. There’s just so much poverty. The people of New Mexico are so smart and energized, yet we stay so impoverished. Obviously this ties in to access for medical care, which would do a lot to improve that.
What is the first bill you’d introduce in the 2027 legislative session?
It would likely have something to do with the enforcement of the Yazzie/Martinez education equity case. We need to ensure schools provide the appropriate amount of services for children.
What’s your top choice of committee?
The Health and Human Services Committee. There’s going to be a lot of issues coming up in the next few years for all kinds of health care issues, whether it’s the number of people being dropped by Medicaid, while they’re going to have to have access to health care services somehow, even if they don’t have Medicaid.
Artificial intelligence is going to become a much larger part; it’s going to treat people instead of doctors. This transition is already happening, and it’s going to continue happening over the next few years. And it’s going to be state legislatures that have to decide the rules and regulations: who’s going to be sued if something goes wrong. These are really tough decisions, and you need someone in the Legislature who understands these issues at a fundamental level to be able to make the best decisions regarding all that.
What’s your strongest skill that makes you the best pick for voters?
I know health care policy. Not only as a physician who’s been in practice for decades, but I have a master’s degree in public health and additional training in health care policy.
Do you support paying lawmakers?
I haven’t made a decision about that yet. I’m leaning towards yes, because the way our Legislature is set up, it’s like you already have to have a good source of income in order to consider being a legislator. And so that leaves out a lot of well-qualified people in the state who could serve as lawmakers.
