New Mexico’s Long, Hard Fight Ahead

All too often, human nature gets the best of us, as we look to the future and see uncertainty. Uncertainty for our families, uncertainty for our communities, uncertainty for our government, and uncertainty for our state. At this current time, New Mexico is at a crossroads between radical progressive extremism and salvaging what we can from this seemingly sinking ship.

Each and every day, it pains me to open the Albuquerque Journal just to find more carelessness occurring at our state Capitol. That’s not to mention all the deception not being reported on due to the sheer volume of shady dealings behind the scenes of an opaque administration, spoiled in its own corruption.

The truth is that before last November, things were actually beginning to look up. New Mexico’s graduation rate was rising, our unemployment rate falling, and our state coffers were full of desperately-needed proceeds from the then-booming oil & gas industry.

Beginning in December, when bills started pre-filing for the next legislature, the last hope I had for a civil session all but disappeared as fast as the state coffers would once the Democrats took office in January. Radical bills looking to annihilate any faint glimmer of progress made in the last few years revealed the inconvenient truth that elections have consequences.

All too often do I hear from New Mexicans shutters of fear for our state, and talk of leaving. And can you blame them? The Democrat-run state includes dreams of “sanctuarizing” itself with the hatred of law enforcement, the killing of 9-month-old babies in the womb, snatching guns from law-abiding citizens, letting convicted felons vote, spending money for universal childcare, giving Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office a 38% raise, and taxing our citizens into poverty. When people tell me, “John, I can’t afford to stay in New Mexico, the land my family has lived in for generations,” I wish I could lay out a robust case against such a move, but the truth is I can’t blame them anymore.

However, I have hope, albeit a very small amount, but still some. The land I know as my home, the place my mother’s grandparents homesteaded in, the place I had the fortune of growing up in, with beautiful landscapes, rich culture, incredible food, and even more incredible people will not fall into the grasps of a corrosive, power-hungry, bureaucracy. Do you know why? Because I WILL NOT LET IT.

For too long New Mexicans have been saddled with weak, pitiful, tired, and docile leaders, corrupt to the core. It pains me to watch committee hearings, where representatives I hope will stand up to the nefarious games of the Left, don’t. In the name of euphemisms like “bipartisanship,” and “camaraderie,” many of the folks supposedly on our side of the isle submit. They submit to the left’s malfeasance, they submit to the detestable behavior of Leader Egolf and Majority Leader Stapleton. They don’t stand up for themselves, and in return, they don’t stand up for the constituents they were elected to represent.

No wonder New Mexico is the laughing stock of the nation, corroded to the core by corrupt politicians, carpetbaggers, dark money, crime, illegal immigration, and drug excess. WE DON’T SHOW THE COUNTRY THAT WE DESERVE RESPECT. I, for one, am sick and tired of our leaders sitting quietly by as the Left bleeds our state of every last drop of value we have left.

So, I am calling on each and every Republican legislator to stand up for their constituents, and fight back against the ravenous wolves the voters have let into the sheep pen. In 2018, we elected the saddest excuses for legislators I have ever seen in my life (not to mention the ones we re-elected). The mismatched, unqualified jokes that were put into office have diluted the New Mexico state legislature down to a kangaroo court, run by the most incompetent people to walk the face of the Earth. I wish this was just heated rhetoric, but it is unofrunately not.

So, I’ll tell you: You better believe it’s not going to be easy to take our state back from this corrupt regime. It’s going to take years, and even decades of hard work, sleepless nights, strategic delibration, political demonstrations, lawsuits, and even the ends of long-time political careers and dynasties. But those are all chances I am willing to take to get our state back to its rightful place in our great nation. The New Mexico State Constitution reads:

All political power is vested in and derived from the people: all government of right originates with the people, is founded upon their will and is instituted solely for their good.

We are the people, and as such, we decide who runs our state. Our government does not run us, period. Legislators, sitting in their ivory towers up in Santa Fe have been too comfortable for too long. I have heard too many incoherent ramblings from the Republican side of the aisle to counter the destructive Democrat bills brought forth time after time. The shining stars in our legislature are outnumbered by incompetent career politicians 2:1.

No wonder these reprehensible bills become law, especially now that we have a lunatic on the fourth floor of the Capitol serving as our governor. There is no backlash against the machine, hell-bent on ravaging our state! Even worse, our representatives mock us when we testify against destructive bills, discounting our opinions just because we don’t have the title of “Representative.” Democrat Rep. Matthew McQueen gave a prime example of such pretention, going on a Twitter tirade against heartfelt New Mexicans reading points they had against this year’s HB-51 abortion-up-to-birth bill in House Judiciary Committee.

The REAL New Mexico people, who live across our beautiful state will no longer be stepped on and spoken down to by politicians who don’t have a shred of respect for us, except when election season rolls around, and they have to cough up a couple accomplishments. These “accomplishments” usually come in the form of a co-sponsorship of some House or Senate memorial, meaning to “Designate February 19th as Snowflake Day” or some other idiotic nonsense. Just because our state has a part-time legislature does not mean our leaders are part-time legislators.

Each and every day, us REAL New Mexicans get up to go to work, provide for our families, pray to our God, and stand up for our values. Our elected officials are supposed to represent us 24/7/365, not just January-March.

So, next November, we have ONE LAST CHANCE to decide what direction our state will turn. Remember, 2020 is a census year, which means redistricting of legislative seats. When that happens, if Democrats have control of our House & Senate, it will be even harder for Republicans to hold positions in our legislature and in New Mexico’s congressional delegation.

If you are a qualified, intelligent, hard-working, passionate patriot who loves our state, I urge you to run for office, and by that I mean in any capacity, be it City Council, state House, state Senate, or heck, even U.S. Senate. I am calling for a complete upheaval, and that means incumbents in our own party. If these people are not willing to show up to stand up for us, they don’t deserve to have their jobs.

It’s about time our state finally stood up for itself, instead of submitting to radical left-wing extremists hell-bent on turning our state into the failed-state of California. It is no longer time to play nice, and roll over as Democrats kick us where it hurts. Us Republicans need to grow a momentum and show up on the battlefront to fight. We must speak with strength, not hatred. With honesty, not deception. And most of all, we must bring answers, not more problems.

If we work together, hand-in-hand these next couple years, we will take back our state. This is our time, this is our state, and this is our one last opportunity to make New Mexico great again. But, whatever happens, if we win or lose, I will NEVER abandon our beautiful state. I will fight until my last dying breath to save New Mexico, and I pray each and every one of you will join me in the fight.