Two Democrats in the New Mexico House of Representatives officially left office Monday, setting in motion a process to replace them that ultimately ends in the coming weeks at Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk.
State Reps. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo) and Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces) had previously announced they intended to retire, but their terms do not end until January. Both told Source NM on Monday that they decided to leave office early to give Democratic primary winners in their districts a chance to start early at the Roundhouse.
County commissions in each House district will meet in the coming weeks to select a replacement before sending their preferred candidates to Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, for approval.
Herrera’s District 41 covers parts of four different counties, so county commissions from Taos, Santa Fe, Sandoval and Rio Arriba will meet separately to name their own preferred replacements.
Commission chairs in each of those four counties did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Monday about when they might meet and who they are considering. But Sandoval County spokesperson Wayne Johnson told Source NM that the commission could meet in mid-August at the earliest.
Herrera, who served in the Legislature since 2019, told Source NM that she strongly prefers the June 2 Democratic primary election winner Yolanda Jaramillo to serve out the rest of Herrera’s term in the Roundhouse.
“That gives her a head start,” she said. “It’s good for her. It’s good for the district.”
Herrera previously endorsed Jaramillo during her primary election against Debbie Rodella. Jaramillo won the race with 55% of the vote out of roughly 5,500 ballots cast.
Jaramillo told Source NM she is looking forward to making her case to all four county commissions and, if approved, to starting early in the Roundhouse. She is running unopposed in the general election Nov. 3.
As for Ferrary’s House District 37, only the Doña Ana County Commission will need to weigh in on a replacement, because the district sits entirely within that southern New Mexico county’s boundaries.
Ferrary told Source NM that she is hopeful commissioners, a majority of whom are all, will submit Lori Martinez’s name to the governor. Martinez defeated Tilly Villalobos in the Democratic primary in June.
But unlike Jaramillo, Martinez has an opponent in the November election. She will face Republican Isabella Solis.
Solis told Source NM on Monday that she thinks Ferrary is unfairly advantaging Martinez by dropping out early and paving the way for Martinez to be a sitting House 37 representative when the election occurs.
“Her goal is to put her finger on the scale, like a switcheroo,” she said. “I think that oftentimes there could be advantages of incumbency, but frankly, New Mexico is in such bad shape and constantly ranking last. In this political environment, being an incumbent is not necessarily helpful.”
Ferrary told Source NM that Martinez being in office during the election may benefit Martinez, but not by much. She’s confident Martinez will win regardless.
“It could [help], but I also believe that Democrats are going to have a really good turnout in the November election,” she said.
Martinez told Source NM that she hopes the commission’s process is open and transparent, but also quick, to prevent District 37 constituents from going without a state representative for too much longer.
I’m biased, obviously, but my hope is that the county commission would appoint the person who won the primary,” she said. “Obviously I know there’s a general opponent, as well. But I’m eager to get to work, so I say the sooner, the better.”
