New Mexico House Republican leader urges county commission not to name replacement to vacant seat

A New Mexico House Republican leader is urging the Doña Ana County Commission to prevent a “blatant partisan power grab” and not name a replacement for House District 37, which Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces) vacated earlier this week.

Ferrary’s Monday retirement empowered the Doña Ana County Commission to name a candidate, subject to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s approval, who would serve out the rest of Ferrary’s term, which ends at the end of this year.

But Ferrary’s departure comes several months before a November general election between Democrat Lori Martinez and Republican Isabella Solis for the HD37 seat. The winner of that race would take office in January and serve a two-year term. 

Ferrary previously told Source NM she hoped the county commission would name Martinez to give her a running start should she win the November election. 

House Republican Leader Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) issued a news release late Tuesday criticizing Ferrary for dropping out early and urging the commission to let the election play out without giving Martinez an advantage. 

Appointing Martinez to the seat before the election would provide her with benefits of incumbency like power, resources and visibility, Armstrong said, and would unfairly disadvantage Solis, she said. 

“The Democratic nominee should have to earn this seat from the voters, not receive it through a political appointment designed to tip the scales in her favor,” Armstrong said in a statement. 

She urged the commission to either leave the seat vacant until January, when the democratically elected candidate takes her rightful seat, or make a temporary appointment of someone who is neither Martinez nor Solis. 

“The voters of House District 37 should choose their next representative,” Armstrong said. “That decision should not be made for them in a backroom appointment that benefits one party and one candidate.”

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Doña Ana County Commission Chair Manuel Sanchez told Source NM on Wednesday that he is considering Armstrong’s suggestions. He had previously thought the county commission should appoint either Martinez or Solis, which would grant constituents of HD37 a “50/50 shot” of being represented by their eventual elected representative.

Still, Sanchez, a Democrat, said he is leaning toward appointing Martinez, because he thinks odds are already in her favor for the general election. He described the district as solidly Democratic and noted that Solis lost to Ferrary in the 2020 HD37 election. 

Appointing her now, which takes a majority vote from the commission, would let her “hit the ground running,” he said. 

Sanchez said he expects commissioners to take up the matter, with an application process and public input, sometime in August. 

Martinez did not immediately respond to Source NM’s request for comment Wednesday but said previously that she hopes the Doña Ana County Commission acts swiftly to name a replacement for the benefit of constituents in the district. 

Solis told Source NM on Monday that she thinks Ferrary’s retirement “put her finger on the scale” for Martinez, but she also said she’s not convinced being an incumbent will necessarily help Martinez come November. 

“It remains to be seen whether any political manipulation of the process will necessarily benefit them,” she said.