State GOP criticizes governor for delaying pick to fill vacant NM Senate seat 

SANTA FE — More than two months after a first-term Republican state senator's abrupt resignation, his GOP-leaning seat in southern New Mexico remains unfilled.

A top state Republican Party official on Tuesday accused Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of "playing games" by waiting to pick a replacement for former Sen. Nicholas Paul of Alamogordo, saying the delay could affect planning for new public works projects within the district.

"There’s really no excuse for the governor to stall this nomination,” said state GOP Executive Director Leticia Muñoz.

"Gov. Lujan Grisham is making this political with the intention of disadvantaging our caucus prior to the most important legislative session in our state’s history," she added.

However, a spokeswoman for the Democratic governor said Lujan Grisham has completed interviews with the three individuals recommended for the vacant seat by county commissioners in the district.

The governor will make an announcement about the seat before the 30-day legislative session starts on Jan. 20, added Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter. 

Paul stepped down in October from the seat he'd been elected to a year earlier, citing family health issues as the reason for his abrupt resignation. The four-year term he was elected to runs through 2028.

Following a process laid out by the state Constitution, county commissioners from the three counties that Senate District 33 encompasses — Otero, Lincoln and Chaves — submitted names to the governor for consideration to fill the seat. But the Constitution does not spell out a specific timeline for making an appointment once names are received.

The three names submitted for the vacant seat are John Block (by Otero County), Mark Fischer (by Lincoln County) and Rex Wilson (by Chaves County). Block is a GOP state representative, meaning his House seat would subsequently have to be filled if he is chosen by the governor for the vacancy.

Fischer is a current Lincoln County commissioner, while Wilson is a rancher and former Lincoln County commissioner.

Meanwhile, the saga over the vacant Senate seat marks the second consecutive year a legislative seat has been empty entering the new year.

Last year, Lujan Grisham waited for roughly three months to fill a vacant House seat in west central New Mexico that had been held by Eliseo Alcon, a Democrat who stepped down due to health issues before his death in January 2025.

The governor ultimately chose Martha Garcia of Pine Hill to fill the seat. The former Cibola County commissioner joined the House more than halfway through last year's 60-day legislative session.

Regardless of who is appointed to the vacant Senate seat, Democrats will enter the 30-day session with a comfortable majority in the 42-member chamber. They currently outnumber Republicans by a 26-15 margin in the Senate.

The legislative session is expected to focus largely on budgetary matters, though health care access, crime and environmental issues will likely also prompt intense debate.

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.