Stephanie Garcia Richard for Lt. Governor: Fighting for our New Mexico

Tucumcari. Silver City. Española. Farmington. Mora. Los Alamos. Santa Fe. Albuquerque. Las Cruces.  My roots run deep in New Mexico, a state where we all feel a sense of belonging.

I grew up in Tucumcari and Silver City. My mother was from Tucumcari and a homemaker, my father was a teacher and World War II veteran, and my grandfather was a railroad worker for Rock Island Railroad. With both parents deceased and the oldest of four siblings, I play a role in my family so many are familiar with–caretaker, trusted confidant, negotiator, and provider at times. Now as a mother, my husband Eric and I have successfully prepared two children for adulthood and care for Eric’s 92 year-old mother with Alzheimer’s. 

As the oldest of four children and a mother to two, I struggled when my parents died. But my own children have become my heroes–they have grown up to be critical, compassionate, and insightful. I want to help create the future they imagine, for all New Mexico families like mine.

I will bring real experience to making the office of Lieutenant Governor work for all New Mexicans. I was a school teacher for 19 years and served Los Alamos for six years as a State Representative, fighting for more funding for our public schools, crime prevention, and addiction treatment. I then became the first woman and first Hispana elected to be New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands, where I brought billions of dollars to New Mexico’s public schools, increased renewable energy production sevenfold, restored stolen land back to Tribes, and protected more public land from federal land grabs than any Public Land Commissioner has done before.