State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard
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State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard announced she will run for lieutenant governor next year.
The Los Alamos Daily Post first reported the news. Garcia Richard lives in Los Alamos and represented the area in the state House for three terms prior to becoming State Land Commissioner.
Garcia Richard, a Democrat, is in her second term as State Land Commissioner and cannot run for a third consecutive term because of term limits for statewide positions.
“I make a perfect partner for any of the folks I’ve heard may run, including announced candidate Deb Haaland,” Garcia Richard told her hometown paper. “Especially in this time of uncertainty at the national level. I can be out front; I can make the hard calls, and I think that is what we need.”
Garcia Richard is the first candidate to announce her candidacy for the position currently held by Democrat Howie Morales.
The lieutenant governor’s main responsibilities are to serve as the president of the state Senate and cast tie-breaking votes in that chamber. The lieutenant governor also serves as governor when the governor is outside the state.
Garcia Richard told the Albuquerque Journal Thursday “I do have designs on (being) governor someday, but right now it seems the best path forward for me, and the next logical step, would be as lieutenant governor.”
In New Mexico, candidates for lieutenant governor run for the party’s nomination separately from the gubernatorial candidate, then they run as a combined ticket in the general election.
The position of Lieutenant Governor has not been a stepping stone to governor in the past.
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