The three Democratic candidates that have declared their candidacy for New Mexico governor attended a party gathering June 27 at the home of Lela Holmes in Farmington.
Sam Bregman of Albuquerque, Deb Haaland of Albuquerque and Ken Miyagishima of Las Cruces mingled with area residents and other candidates, while sharing their ideas for the governor’s office.
The event was paid for by the San Juan County Federation of Democratic Women, of which Holmes is a member.
Sam Bregman
Bregman is the district attorney for Bernalillo County, where he manages 330 employees. He was appointed to the office in January 2023 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and he subsequently won the 2024 election to retain the position.
“We changed the culture and the morale” in the office to “get really good things done for the community when it came to crime,” Bregman said, adding that he would like to do the same at the state level.
“I want this job to help effectuate better opportunities for every family in New Mexico,” Bregman said. “I really do believe that we have so much potential in this state that we’ve never quite lived up to.”
Bregman is focusing on four key issues in his campaign: crime, education, health care and economic development.
“We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to turn around first in crime and 50th in education. That is a ridiculous statistic we unfortunately have here in New Mexico,” Bregman said. “That needs to be flipped around so that we are first in education and 50th in crime.”
When it comes to crime, Bregman said safety of the community is a “paramount concern.”
“If somebody demonstrates the propensity for violence and a propensity and a willingness to hurt other people, we can’t let them continue to be released every time.”
He also said the No. 1 thing to combat crime in the state is to put more police on the street. He said he recruited 80 attorneys at the DA’s Office, increasing the number of lawyers to 130 in the Bernalillo County DA’s Office.
Changes in education will come from ensuring that every decision by the Public Education Department, school districts and teachers be based on what is “best for the child or student in the classroom.”
Bregman said he would like to provide extra assistance to help underachievers perform at grade level while ensuring that high-performing students do not get bored.
Bregman also would like to see an increase in “apprenticeships and the trades.”
When it comes to health care, Bregman said eliminating the gross receipts tax on medical services and providing tax incentives for doctors to open rural clinics would be a good start.
“Better jobs,” Bregman said, help alleviate issues of crime and education because residents can then better support their families.
His focus will be leadership and “a culture of excellence that we have not had in state government in New Mexico,” Bregman said.