Looking at NM House Dist. 35: I prefer Angelica Rubio's Consistent Performance to the Uncertainties of Gabriel Duran

District 35 State Rep. Angelica Rubio is a hard-working, dedicated, highly progressive state legislator. I’m in her district.

Rubio grew up in poverty. Her parents spoke only Spanish. She first ran for public office in 2016, winning the District 35 seat as a relative unknown. She had helped lead CAFé’s successful push to increase the minimum wage in Las Cruces. She has repeatedly won re-election and gained such respect that Republicans didn’t even nominate anyone against her this year.

Gabriel Duran, seems a nice young man Last year, he ran for the City Council against Johana Bencomo. On radio, he sounded less knowledgeable and appealing than Bencomo, but far stronger than the third candidate. Mutual friends who supported him suggested we have coffee. We did. We share a fondness for the San Francisco 49ers. He seemed an affable and positive young man, maybe a little too concerned about touching all the political bases. I suggested he get involved in city affairs in some other capacity before perhaps running again. I suspected, though, that there was money behind him.

Now he’s challenging Angelica in the Democratic primary. He became a Democrat about six months ago, presumably to qualify for our primary. Is he a Democrat at heart? Or hoping we’ll vote for someone who doesn’t share our values?

Rubio exudes integrity. She’s experienced and effective. And tough. As a friend remarked recently, she’s an independent thinker, one of the few state legislators who thinks outside the box. She works things out and then acts, sometimes courageously. We District 35 voters, have appreciated that.

I like Gabe, but see nothing in him so remarkable that it’d warrant unseating a proven lawmaker.

Although Duran claims to be a Democrat whose in workers’ corner, the bulk of the $27.261 funding his campaign is from business owners, business associations, wealthy conservatives, and even Republicans.

Wealthy businesswoman Marci Dickerson and five of her entities combine for $11,000. Dickerson’s S&W Investments contributed to two candidates: $10,700 to Republican District 36 candidate Kimberly Skaggs and $2,500 to Duran. Another of Duran’s biggest contributors was “50 State DMV” – a business owned by Skaggs. Duran also got $2,500 each from former PRC Commissioner Sandy Jones, former PicQuik owner Oscar Andrade, who gave an eloquent speech to city council opposing the minimum wage. Dickerson, Skaggs, and Andrade provided 60% of Duran’s campaign budget so far.

Who backs a candidate matters. It matters even more when he or she is relatively unknown, with no public accomplishments and no public record to admire or criticize. Gabe promises vaguely to ensure everyone is covered by health care, but Angelica has worked for that. Gabe promises to “support workers’ rights” but his backers include strong opponents to Las Cruces raising its minimum wage, while hers include carpenters’ and plumbers’ unions. He claims to be for better health care, but got $1,000 from Lifepoint, owned by one of the more voracious private equity firms savaging our healthcare. I doubt Lifepoint supports rigorous government oversight of hospitals. Duran’s contributor list isn’t full of people who fight for the average citizen, for workers, for equality, or against draconian laws on women’s health.

Rubio’s top contributors are conservation groups, educational groups, and labor unions, the NM Trial Lawyers Association, “Everytown for Gun Safety,” and a lot of citizens, including former federal prosecutor Peter Ossorio.

So – a strong, reliable progressive voice or an unknown supported by conservative business owners?

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[The above column appeared Sunday, 19May, 2024, in the Las Cruces Sun-News and on the newspaper's website and on KRWG’s website, under Local Viewpoints. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM, streaming at www.lccommunityradio.org/). ]

[Not a lot to add to this one: Rubio has represented us admirably.  There's no reason to change.  If there were, Duran would be an appealing young man about whose values and political beliefs I'd have grave uncertainty.]

[Is he being used to beguile us into voting against our own values? Given how content District 35 voters are with Rubio, one wonders why wealthy business folks are pumping money into Duran’s campaign. ]

[You can review the campaign finacne records I mentioned (and others) yourself at our secretary of state’s website or at http://www.followthemoney.org/.]