New Mexico's newest state legislator officially sworn in, ready to get to work

SANTA FE — Martha Garcia didn’t have much time to ease into her new job as a state legislator before getting down to work.

Garcia, a former Cibola County commissioner, was sworn in Thursday as the newest member of the state House, as her family members watched from the chamber floor.

She then cast her first votes as a legislator during a House floor session that stretched for more than six hours.

“I think it’s still sinking in,” Garcia said during a Thursday interview.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday appointed Garcia to fill a vacancy created when former Rep. Eliseo Alcon of Milan stepped down shortly after winning reelection in November.

Alcon died last month at age 74.

The appointment ended a three-month political soap opera that included the governor rejecting the nomination of former Rep. Harry Garcia of Grants due to residency concerns.

Martha Garcia said she had been following the session from afar in case she was selected for the House District 6 seat.

“I couldn’t really make any plans or schedule what I was going to be doing or where I was going to be,” she said.

After being advised by the Governor’s Office a decision was imminent, she finally got word she had been appointed on Wednesday from her daughter as she was driving to Santa Fe.

Garcia said she is still learning the rules and ways of the House — including where to go to make a phone call during floor sessions — but already has ideas about legislation.

Specifically, she cited education issues and possible changes to the state’s anti-donation clause, which prohibits state dollars from flowing directly to private parties, as priorities during what’s left of this year’s 60-day session.

Garcia, who is the Ramah Navajo chapter president, also said she would push for the isolated chapter to be able to receive funding directly, instead of it flowing first to the Navajo Nation.

With the session entering its final weeks, she had been in touch with Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, whose district partially overlaps with hers, about funding infrastructure projects in the state’s annual capital outlay bill.

The appointment of Garcia, who wore deerskin moccasins to mark her first day as a legislator, brought the number of Native American lawmakers in New Mexico to nine.

She said the moccasins held special significance for her on a largely surreal day.

“Just being in there (on the House floor) is kind of like, ‘Am I really here now?’” she said.