Letter To The Editor: Since Her 2012 Election, Garcia Richard Has Acquired Seniority By Ably Serving District

By ADELAIDE JACOBSON
Los Alamos

The people of NM House District 43 are very fortunate that there are two capable women running to be our representative. Since her election in 2012, Stephanie Garcia Richard has acquired seniority by ably serving this district, which includes parts of Santa Fe, Sandoval and Rio Arriba counties, in addition to Los Alamos.

Stephanie Garcia Richard currently serves on the appropriations and the education committees. She is an educator and it is important that she continue to sit on the education committee. She is familiar with the ‘nuts and bolts’ of how education policy in the state affects those who are most intimately connected to the education of students, the classroom teachers. 

Stephanie Garcia Richard has been instrumental in legislation benefiting Los Alamos County and its citizens, including education and economic development.

In an Oct. 28 letter published in the Los Alamos Monitor, written by four community members who have served in various elective positions in Los Alamos County, I was struck by the following sentence from the last paragraph:

“We can return to a local citizen-legislator who is truly a part of our community.” Stephanie Garcia Richard is a local citizen-legislator and is part of our community. Stephanie Garcia Richard, her husband, and children live in White Rock. Her children attend our schools. As residents, Garcia Richard and her husband pay county property taxes just like the rest of us!

Stephanie Garcia Richard has shown us by her representation that she is our effective local citizen-legislator.

 The letter seems to take issue with the following regarding Garcia Richard:

  • That she ran against an incumbent in her first run for the office she now holds. Until there are term limits for political offices, most races, including this very race, involve an incumbent and a challenger.
  • That her name reflects her Hispanic heritage. I don’t think I need to remind the reader that our state is 48 percent Hispanic.
  • That she does not work within the confines of the geographically smallest county in the state of New Mexico. Thousands of northern New Mexicans commute to work outside their county of residence, as Garcia Richard does, working just off the ‘Hill’ in our neighboring community of Pojoaque.
  • That it is costly to run for office and that the cost has increased over the years. Running for political office is an expensive endeavor. That is why many organizations are working very hard to get money out of politics. I hope the signatories of the letter are supporters of Common Cause, The League of Women Voters, or other organizations working to reform campaign finance and disclosure laws nationally and within New Mexico.

If you haven’t yet voted, I urge you to vote for Stephanie Garcia Richard for State Representative in District 43.

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