Antonia Roybal-Mack, an attorney who has represented hundreds of northern New Mexico wildfire victims, is on the “short list” of candidates gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland is considering endorsing to join her on the Democratic ticket, Roybal-Mack told Source NM on Thursday.
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who handily won the Democratic primary election for lieutenant governor earlier this month, announced last week that she was “suspending” her campaign for unspecified health reasons. She officially withdrew from the race Thursday, according to Secretary of State’s Office records.
The New Mexico Democratic Party has announced that it is seeking to replace Toulouse Oliver on the ticket through a vote of its State Central Committee, and Haaland said she is interviewing candidates for a potential endorsement, as well.
Roybal-Mack said she sat for an interview with Haaland’s team Thursday morning and will speak with Haaland directly if she makes it to the next round.
She said Haaland’s team told her she was on a list with four other candidates Haaland is considering for an endorsement, one that marks a “short list” drawn from a pool of more than a dozen candidates.
Hannah Menchoff, Haaland’s spokesperson, confirmed to Source NM the four others on the list are state Sens. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española) and Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), who ran against Toulouse Oliver in the June 2 primary; as well as New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard and Sonya Smith, a former Department of Veterans Services cabinet secretary who also ran briefly in the Democratic primary for the secretary of state’s office.
All but Smith have publicly announced their hopes to replace Toulouse Oliver on the ticket. Smith did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Thursday.
As an attorney who has never run for public office, Roybal-Mack said she was surprised when a Democratic party leader — whom she declined to name — approached her last week and asked if she’d be interested in running to join Haaland, but she believes she would be a good fit.
“I think I’m definitely the unknown candidate. I’m not the party insider,” she said. “But I think one of the things I told [Haaland’s team], and I say openly, is I fight for things I love, and I would fight for New Mexico.”
Roybal-Mack, through her firm Roybal, Mack & Cordova, has been one of the main attorneys representing victims of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire who are seeking compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA is overseeing a $5.45 billion fund that is paying out claims for damages from the 2022 wildfire, which the Forest Service ignited through botched prescribed burns.
Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia told Source NM on Thursday that the party and its State Central Committee are still far from a decision on who will replace Toulouse Oliver. He said that the party has provided several interested Democrats with application forms to be considered for the State Central Committee ballot, but that anyone else who is interested is still welcome to apply.
The party announced Thursday afternoon that the vote to replace Toulouse Oliver will take place July 25.
Haaland’s team told Roybal-Mack not to publicly discuss the questions they asked her during her meeting Thursday, she said, though she did disclose one:
“The hardest question they asked was, ‘red or green?” Roybal-Mack said. “I said ‘blue,” because I want to run on the Democratic ticket.”
