SF Mayor To Run For Lujan’s Seat

SANTA FE – Second-term Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, a veteran of state and city government, will run for the House seat of Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Nambé.

Lujan, who has lung cancer, is leaving the House, and Coss’ neighborhood is newly in District 46 because of redistricting.

Coss, a Democrat, is midway through his second term as mayor and says he’ll stay on the job if he’s elected to the House.

He retired from state government – including a dozen years in the Environment Department – and has been a city councilor, public works director and city manager.

Coss will face at least one other Democrat in the June 5 primary, Carl Trujillo of Nambé. Trujillo, who works at Los Alamos National Laboratory and has a home-building business, trailed Lujan by just 84 votes in the 2010 primary.

Other election news:

♦ Rep. David Chavez, a Republican from Los Lunas, says he won’t run for a second term in the House. Chavez says he wants to turn his full attention to his law practice. He represented District 7.

♦ Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, will run for a fourth term. She represents Senate District 38 and is a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the interim Legislative Finance Committee.

♦ Rep. Bob Wooley, R-Roswell, says he plans to proceed with a House District 66 primary contest against good friend and fellow Republican Rep. Dennis Kintigh, although it’s “tearing both of us up.” The lawmakers’ districts were consolidated in the new House map. Wooley says he was treated for cancer recently but it is in remission, and he’s well enough to run. Wooley was appointed to a vacancy last year.

♦ Patricia Roybal Caballero is running for the Democratic nomination in Albuquerque’s House District 13, where incumbent Eleanor Chavez is leaving to run for the Senate. She has worked for over 36 years in public administration and community and economic development and has been a union organizer.

♦ At least two candidates are running in the Democratic primary for the Senate District 30 seat held by incumbent David Ulibarri of Grants. Maxine Velasquez of Laguna Pueblo is a lawyer and economic development advocate for rural communities. She is general counsel for the Pueblo of Tesuque . Randy Collins of Grants is a lawyer in private practice, the tribal judge for the Pueblo of Acoma, and teaches college-level philosophy and ethics courses.

♦ At least two Democrats are vying for the Las Cruces-area seat held by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, who’s leaving House District 52 to run for the Senate. Doreen Gallegos of Las Cruces is the executive director of Mesilla Valley CASA, which advocates for children in foster care in Doña Ana County. Andrew Moralez of Anthony, a consultant, is former executive director of the New Mexico Border Authority and former city manager of Sunland Park.

♦ Torrance County Commissioner Venessa Chavez, a Democrat, is running for the House District 50 seat, which is being vacated by Democratic Rep. Rhonda King. Chavez, of Tajique, chairs the commission, to which she was elected in 2008. She formerly worked for the city of Estancia.

Journal Capitol Bureau reporter Deborah Baker can be reached at dbaker@abqjournal.com.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal