March 8, 2018 • Local News
Las Cruces Sun-News: Faction wins four seats in Sunland Park
LAS CRUCES - A slate of candidates who dubbed themselves the "Purple Movement" won four races in the Sunland Park municipal election Tuesday.
Separately, two other municipalities — the village of Hatch and the town of Mesilla — canvassed their results Wednesday from Tuesday's elections, meaning results are final. Mayors of both communities, Andrew "Andy" Nuñez in Hatch and Nora Barraza in Mesilla, were successful in their re-election bids. Each will serve four more years.
And two trustees, including an incumbent, will be seated in Anthony, N.M.
Faction wins seats in Sunland Park
In Sunland Park, voters backed incumbent Municipal Judge Lizette Salinas over challenger Maria I. Chacon, an accountant for a large concrete company.
Salinas was aligned with a group called the Purple Movement, which included candidates Jessica Avila, a cosmetologist, in the District 1 City Council race; Daisy Lira, a childcare center operator, in District 2; and Bertha Salmon, a waitress, in District 3. They all beat opponents to be elected to four-year terms.
Supporter Maria de Jesus Garcia campaigned for the Purple Movement on Tuesday in front of Sunland Park City Hall. A resident of the city since 1978, she said she's part of a group of residents who help candidates ranging from City Council to state representative to district attorney get elected to office.
As for why she backed Salinas and the three other candidates, de Jesus Garcia said, "because I know them."
"We are friends; we've known them for a lot of years," she said. "We just want people who want to develop the city because we are so forgotten from the people in Santa Fe."
In opposition
Another faction of candidates included Chacon; incumbent District 1 City Councilor Ken Giove; Norexy Diaz Frankel, a board member of a local homeowners association, in the District 2 race; and Jesus Soto, a former Gadsden Independent School District board member and federal highway department employee, in the District 3 race. The three had support from City Councilor Carolina Renteria, whose seat wasn't up for election Tuesday. The group campaigned in opposition to Salinas, saying they had concerns about her tenure as magistrate judge.
"There's a lot of people who are really tired of the Salinas groups," she said Tuesday, referring to a well-known family in the city.
Lizette Salinas is sister to Daniel Salinas, a former mayor-elect from 2012 who never took office because he was charged in a high-profile election scandal. Avila, who represented City Council District 6 at the time, was aligned with Daniel Salinas. However, neither Avila or Lizette Salinas were implicated or charged in connection to the scandal.
Soto, who was pitted against Salmon, said he wanted to see more accountability and transparency in city government.
"Let the people know what is going on," he said.
Chacon said Wednesday she was disappointed because her group had lodged complaints about lack of compliance by other candidates to election rules, but didn't feel they were thoroughly investigated. She also said the city election turnout of 17 percent was unusually high, "causing a lot of doubt and mistrust."
City officials said they did review complaints during the campaign for compliance to codes.
Unofficial results weren't available until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night. City officials said a slow machine and the process of verifying and counting absentee ballots were part of the hold-up.
Sunland Park plans to canvass and certify its election results at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Sunland Park City Council Chambers, 1000 McNutt Road. Judge Joel Cano will be present to certify results, which remain unofficial until then.
A swearing-in for newly elected officials will take place 5 p.m. Monday at the Sunland Park City Council Chambers.
Hatch
The village of Hatch canvassed its election results Wednesday morning, meaning its results are final.
Incumbent Hatch Mayor Andy Nuñez, 82, was elected to a second full four-year term. He first was appointed to the seat in 2013 after the death of a former mayor. Nuñez beat out three challengers, including a resident who filed an campaign-spending-related ethics complaint against him that's still under review by the Secretary of State's Office.
Nuñez said Friday he "just wants to do the best for the people of Hatch."
"The people of Hatch know what we've been doing," he said. "That's why they gave me more votes than the other three opponents together."
In all, 24.9 percent of the village's 546 voters turned out, according to official numbers from the village clerk's office.
In addition, two trustee candidates won election to two trustee seats.
All of the newly elected Hatch officials will be sworn in Friday.
Mesilla
Mayor Nora Barraza, 63, was re-elected to a third four-year term, surpassing challenger Jesus Caro Jr., a town trustee. Barraza said she thinks voters were happy with progress the town has made on several fronts, including street improvements and public safety. She and her husband went door-to-door to about 500 homes, some more than once, to get her campaign message out and answer questions, she said.
"It's a lot of wear and tear on the tennis shoes," she said.
Barraza says she wants to continue working with town staff and trustees on several priorities, including infrastructure. Many of the town's water lines and sewer lines are decades old, and repairing them ideally will take place at the same time streets are repaved, she said. The village also must seek funding for the costly projects.
Voters chose Trustee Stephanie Johnson-Burick, 52, and candidate Veronica Garcia out of a four-way race for two trustee seats.
"I'm absolutely thrilled that the voters, the residents, have entrusted me to serve another term," Johnson-Burick said Wednesday. "There's a lot of projects we're working on in the town so this gives me additional time to help the mayor and staff get these done."
In particular, Johnson-Burick, who has a human resources background, said she's hoping to help the town overhaul its personnel policies and job descriptions and ensure salary levels are appropriate for staff. She also wants to promote infrastructure improvements.
The town of Mesilla canvassed its election results Wednesday morning, meaning results are final for that municipality. In all, 40.2 percent of the town's 1,551 voters turned out during the election, according to the town clerk's office.
Anthony, N.M.
Incumbent Trustee Elva Flores and Javier Silva, a CenturyLink company employee, won election to two open seats on the Anthony, N.M., Board of Trustees. There were five candidates in the race.
An election canvass is slated for Friday morning at Anthony, N.M., City Hall.
Silva, a CenturyLink employee, said he's "very excited to have the opportunity to serve the citizens of the city of Anthony."
"I worked hard to get into this position, and I thank the people for their votes and support," he said.
According to unofficial results, 9 percent of voters turned out in Anthony.
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