Earlier this week, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in favor of state Rep. Rebecca Dow when it reversed a state district court ruling that had disqualified Dow’s nominating petitions and would have kept the Republican from Truth or Consequences off the ballot in the June primary.

In the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Dow joins Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to share her thoughts on the case, the ruling and her hopes for her party in the 2026 election.

Dow discusses issues with the secretary of state’s nominating petitions online platform and her view that there should be changes to the nominating petitions filing process. She also addresses the party politics she feels were behind the complaint filed against her.

Unopposed in the Republican primary for the House seat, Dow says she expects her race against Democratic challenger David Mooney to be one of the most competitive in the state. She then talks about what she wants to continue to pursue if elected to a fifth term, including reform of the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department and giving a voice to rural New Mexicans.

Dow also shares her thoughts on the governor’s race, expressing optimism about all three of the Republican candidates.

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Katharine Clark’s third day in office as Santa Fe County clerk was January 6, 2021, the day the U.S. Capitol was attacked by supporters of Donald Trump in an effort to overturn the presidential election. Clark said the election denialism spurred by Trump has defined an era of being an election official as those who administer elections have had to battle a barrage of misinformation.

Calling overreach by the executive branch the biggest threat to New Mexico elections, Clark said she is running to be New Mexico’s secretary of state to fight back against Trump and preserve ballot access. She’s running in the Democratic primary against Doña Ana County Clerk Amanda López Askin.

In the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Clark spoke with Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón about her record as Santa Fe County clerk and what her plans would be if she succeeds Maggie Toulouse Oliver as secretary of state.

Chacón first questions Clark about a complaint filed in March that Clark had violated the state’s election code by releasing absentee and early voting data before polls closed in four recent elections. Clark said the Secretary of State’s Office results website, where county clerks upload their county’s voting data, doesn’t release results until after polls close.

Clark then talks about the efforts she’s taken as county clerk to fight against Trump and executive overreach. She also discusses voter ID at the polls and what she considers confusion over the Republican-backed SAVE Act, which she calls “the most unreasonable bill I’ve ever heard about for elections.”

Clark shares information about her background, including time growing up in Spain as part of a military family and what she gained while starting her career as a union organizer.

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Stephanie Garcia Richard took over as New Mexico state land commissioner in 2019 and later that year put an end to a decades-long lease that allowed Jeffrey Epstein to use over 1,200 acres of state land around his Zorro Ranch property south of Santa Fe.

Epstein, though his company Cypress Inc., leased the land for livestock grazing, but the State Land Office canceled those leases in part on suspicion that they had been obtained through “illegitimate means for purposes other than ranching or agriculture,” Garcia Richard said of the cancellation.

In the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Garcia Richard speaks with Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón about the failings that allowed the sex offender and financier to lease state land and what her office has done to try to ensure something like that will never happen again.

Garcia Richard begins the interview by discussing what the State Land Office is, and the many legitimate grazing lease agreements it has with ranchers throughout the state. She said there were people in state and federal government, including the King family and the late Gov. Bill Richardson, who played a role in protecting Epstein and his use of the state land. She also said the State Land Office had lacked a culture of due diligence and wasn’t making sure some of its lessees were in compliance with their agreements.

Chacón goes on to ask Garcia Richard about the Trump administration’s recently announced plans to end protections in the 10-mile buffer zone surrounding Chaco Canyon National Historical Park. She shares her concerns about the move, saying “this is a disaster, plain and simple,” and discusses what efforts her office is taking to try to disrupt what the Trump administration is attempting to do.

Garcia Richard also talks about the construction of a border wall as it relates to state land. She said the Trump administration has continually been breaking laws along the border, both environmental and regarding the acknowledgment of land status.

With her final term as state land commissioner months away, Garcia Richard also speaks on the office’s accomplishments during her time in office, and shares what her priorities are for the duration of her term.

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