New Mexico residents are bracing for a rise in their gas bills following the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s recent approval of a rate increase for New Mexico Gas Co. The decision, part of a settlement agreement, will see the average residential bill—based on usage of 53 therms per month—increase

Data indicates Vice President Kamala Harris could excite the Democratic base around the issue of abortion in a way that President Joe Biden struggled to get the message across. Harris, the presumptive nominee for the Democratic ticket for president, has been the voice for reproductive rights under the Biden administration.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham held the first of three planned public safety town hall meetings in Las Cruces on Thursday to promote her special session legislative agenda despite Democrats in the legislature saying her bills have substantive issues. Lujan Grisham took the stage flanked by Doña Ana District Attorney Gerald

Vice President Kamala Harris, who announced on Sunday her intention to replace President Joe Biden as the presidential Democratic nominee, received immediate support from a few reproductive rights groups and picked up a third endorsement from a reproductive rights group on Wednesday. The reproductive rights group, Reproductive Freedom for All,

About 200 people from tribal governors to legislators to advocates and teachers gathered at Bishop’s Lodge to discuss Early Childhood Education’s future in New Mexico Wednesday. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham laid out a plan that includes better compensation for educators at all levels and better access to afterschool and summer

With a last in the nation ranking in the performance of its public schools, New Mexico is desperate for solutions. But one that repeatedly comes up is not cutting the mustard next door in Arizona and could have important lessons for New Mexico. From ProPublica:In 2022, Arizona pioneered the largest

In a controversial move, New Mexico Democrat Reps. Gabe Vasquez, Melanie Stansbury, and Teresa Leger Fernandez, along with Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for president, also chose not to attend,

An internal poll conducted by the Tarrance Group for former Representative Yvette Herrell (R) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) shows Herrell leading incumbent Representative Gabe Vasquez (D) within the margin of error. The poll, conducted from July 11-14 among 400 likely voters, reports Herrell ahead with 48% compared

For generations, the Zuni people were able to grow food in the New Mexico desert through what Pueblo of Zuni Gov. Arden Kucate described as “adaptive irrigation techniques and careful stewardship of our water and lands.” Then, in the early 19th century, this way of life was threatened as settlers

Cervantes and MLGAfter a dramatic defeat of her crime agenda at last week's special legislative session MLG is doubling down on that agenda and taking her case to the public in a series of town hall meetings. The first one will be in the backyard of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman

New Mexico ranks as the second most at-risk state for youth in 2024, only led by Louisiana, according to a new report from WalletHub. The state faces significant challenges, including the highest percentage of youth without a high school diploma and high rates of disconnected youth—those neither working nor in

MLG paused a day before giving a full-throated endorsement of the presidential candidacy of VP Kamala Harris but it did come late Monday morning. She posted her support on X, joining dozens of other Governors and congressional representatives and prompting renewed speculation that MLG could be out of New Mexico

President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign on Sunday leaving questions about what happens to the ballot now. Rules were already in place for a candidate not making it to the general election ballot, University of New Mexico law professor Maryam Ahranjani said. “It's not like even though the act

Joe Biden probably wouldn't have laid an egg in New Mexico in November but his withdrawal from the presidential race has enlarged the comfort zone for the state's Democrats who were starting to tear each other apart as the debate raged on over whether Biden should go or stay. His

New Mexico leaders responded to President Joe Biden’s announcement Sunday that he was no longer seeking re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement shortly after the announcement referring to Biden’s leadership as strong and resolute. “His stellar record includes guiding

Hello fellow political junkies! Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called a special session on July 18 to tackle public safety issues ranging from criminal competency reform to making medians safer. The special session was criticized by Senate and House Democrats who said that the governor’s proposed legislation needed more time for

In a new ruling, a New Mexico judge has upheld the state’s new anti-gun law forcing citizens to wait seven days before purchasing a firearm. The decision, handed down by the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico’s James O. Browning, denied a motion for a temporary

The New Mexico Department of Health has launched a multi-state campaign aimed at attracting pro-abortion and “gender-affirming” healthcare professionals to New Mexico, per a report from the Santa Fe New Mexican. “Every day we’re looking for ways to try to attract more people to New Mexico to meet the health

On Sunday, Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race despite for weeks insisting he would remain the Democrats’ nominee. He quickly endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris. New Mexico Democrats responded with a pretty similar message: They want Kamala Harris, Biden’s choice. New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martinez wrote

The U.S. Senator and congressman each said Joe Biden should step aside for a new candidate. Meanwhile, another of the state's representatives backed Biden.

When considering areas with significant rodent issues, many might think of New York City and its well-known pizza-eating rats. However, according to recent data from Yelp, New York doesn’t even rank in the top five most rodent-infested places in the U.S. Yelp, a website that features crowd-sourced business reviews, analyzed

The two issues passed were only a fraction of what Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had on her special session agenda.

On Friday, Democrat Sen. Martin Heinrich called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, a significant shift following his previous, more reserved statements regarding Biden’s cognitive abilities and political future. Heinrich praised Biden’s accomplishments, stating, “Joe Biden is one of the most accomplished presidents in modern history.

On Thursday, the New Mexico Legislature convened a special session called by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to address public safety measures. The session aimed to consider eight bills related to criminal competency standards, mental health treatment, crime reporting, pedestrian safety, gun violence, drug overdoses, and wildfire relief. In the

On Friday, Sen. Martin Heinrich, after weeks of criticism for a limp statement on Biden’s cognitive decline, finally threw the octogenarian Democrat to the wolves and called for him to drop out of the presidential race after being a fervent supporter. He wrote, “While the decision to withdraw from the

MLG had some carrot and some stick for New Mexico's legislature as she signed the proclamation calling for a special session starting at noon today that has been strongly opposed by a variety of Democratic Party interest groups. She corralled leading law enforcement officials as well as a number of

“We’re asking lawmakers to do right by New Mexico, to do right by all of our cities and counties and to create the kind of opportunities for us to get help to the people who need that help,” Lujan Grisham said.

According to James Kenney, the Environment Department secretary, the two lawyers in his office already have 79 oil and gas air quality investigations on their plates, comprising 70% of their caseload. Furthermore, he said 15% of New Mexico’s oil production is already happening under federal consent decrees after companies were

For most of his life, Paul Pino believed his community had dodged the bullet when it came to nuclear fallout. It wasn’t until he’d retired from teaching high school history that he learned that his home, Carrizozo, had in fact experienced radiation fallout on a July morning in 1945. Then

On Tuesday, during a meeting of the Legislative Courts, Corrections, and Justice Committee, multiple members of the public came out in opposition to Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s so-called “crime” agenda she plans for her upcoming special session, which she has set to begin Thursday. Members of the public, almost

On Wednesday, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham held a press conference to announce her call for the special session she has proclaimed to begin at noon on Thursday. Despite vast opposition from her own party on her five crime-related bills that would increase penalties for felons in possession of firearms

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is pushing forward with a special legislative session focused on crime, despite opposition from within her party and traditional allies who question the effectiveness of her proposed measures. The governor issued a proclamation authorizing nine issues for legislative debate during the special session, starting Thursday at

The money chase in the state's two high-profile congressional races this year remains static. After the filing of the latest FEC reports the Democratic incumbents continue to hold 2 to 1 cash on hand advantages over their Republican rivals. Nella Domenici, who made a fortune in the finance industry, raised

On Monday morning, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham visited a problematic area in downtown Albuquerque to highlight the need for the upcoming special legislative session aimed at addressing public safety and mental health issues. Governor Lujan Grisham criticized some legislators for canceling critical meetings, lunches, and hearings ahead of the special

With just a few days to go until the start of a special session to address public safety, the Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate held a press conference detailing their thoughts on the proposed special session. “We're not afraid of hard work. We're also not afraid of

According to a report from Punchbowl News, Republican former Congresswoman Yvette Herrell has raised a massive sum for her bid to reclaim New Mexico’s Second District from Democrat hands. The outlet wrote that she “raised $802,000 in the second quarter of 2024. Herrell is running in a rematch of her

Lunch at the MansionWhen legislators turn down a free lunch, you know things are bad. Look at that photo courtesy of the Alligators. It appears that only one lawmaker bothered to accept MLG's invitation to lunch at the Guv's Mansion Monday as she desperately tried to hammer out an agreement

It's pro forma for politicians to immediately condemn instances of political violence but it is essential they do so if that violence is not to be accepted as the norm. A danger is that the intermittent chaos and shock caused by such events moves into the realm of something more

By Kate Morrissey, Capital & Main After a man from Pakistan crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to request asylum in February, immigration officials sent him to a detention center in New Mexico where he was the only Urdu speaker. He found solace in a program created during the pandemic that allowed

Diane Cox, A Democrat Party of New Mexico official from Albuquerque who sits on the Party’s State Central Committee, posted an article from The Atlantic titled “Trump is planning for a landslide win” on her Facebook post after 45th President Donald Trump narrowly missed a fatal head wound at a

Three days before a special legislative session is set to begin, Democratic leaders from both chambers of the New Mexico Legislature voiced “deep concerns” on Monday regarding Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s five proposals, per the Santa Fe New Mexican. This announcement follows a coalition of advocacy organizations, behavioral health providers,

As Joe Biden remains committed to running as the Democrat presidential presumptive nominee, Democrats are increasingly worried that his candidacy is transforming the political landscape, turning states like New Mexico into competitive battlegrounds. Local officials, down-ballot Democrats, and party strategists have voiced concerns that states Biden won easily in 2020—such

After a failed attempt on 45th President Donald Trump’s life at a Pennsylvania rally by a now-deceased assassin, who left at least one rallygoer deceased and one in critical condition, New Mexico state Sen. Moe Maestas (D-Albuquerque) commented on a post about the attempted murder by joking about former President

Nella Domenici is making waves as she strives to become the first Republican to win a Senate seat in New Mexico in over two decades. Her campaign has announced a record-breaking $2.9 million fundraising haul for the April-June second quarter of 2024, which they claim is “the largest fundraising quarter

As the San Juan Generating Station closed in 2022, the Central Consolidated School District noted a significant increase in homelessness among its students. At the peak, the district noted a 700 percent increase in homelessness. Now the school district is among the groups calling for the Public Service Company of

A bipartisan group of representatives including New Mexico’s Rep. Gabe Vasquez introduced a bill aiming to curb or eliminate the illegal fentanyl trade at U.S. border crossings this week. Vasquez, a Democrat, represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes the U.S. Border with Mexico. The Stop Fentanyl at the

The House passed a bill that opponents of the bill, including all three members of New Mexico’s delegation, say would suppress voting. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a 221-198 party line vote. The bill seeks to require proof of

New Energy Economy and other environmental advocates renewed a call for a member of the Water Quality Control Commission to recuse herself from hearing a proposed water reuse rule that centers largely around produced water, a byproduct of oil and gas production. Krista McWilliams, a member of the WQCC, is

A group of 41 organizations and individuals want Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to halt plans to hold a special legislative session which is scheduled to start next week. Lujan Grisham announced a special session scheduled for July 18 to address public safety after the legislature did not pass a slew

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act seeks to require proof of United States citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, but opponents say it would make voting more difficult for American citizens. The bill was heard during Monday’s House Rules Committee meeting where it was passed on a party

by Mark Olalde, Capital & Main and ProPublica ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: Unplugged:Will Taxpayers Foot the Oil Industry’s Cleanup Bill? Unplugged oil and gas wells accelerate climate change, threaten public

Hello fellow political junkies! It’s good to be back after almost three months. Aside from the fireworks last week both in the sky and on Capitol Hill, the biggest upcoming legislative/political event in New Mexico is the special legislative session scheduled to begin on July 18 and expected to last

Mario Atencio’s family never received a notification that 1,100 barrels of produced water—a byproduct of oil and gas extraction—had spilled on their allotment in February 2019 near Counselor, New Mexico in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation, near Chaco Culture National Historical Park. It wasn’t until later that the

Heading through eastern New Mexico, dairy cattle can be seen in farms beside the highway while flashing lights illuminate the wind farms at night. Large sprinklers irrigate the crop circles where, in the spring, the endangered lesser prairie chickens may venture out of the brush onto the fields to dance

As the impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett decision of 2023 unfold, New Mexico water advocates are pushing for increased protections of waterways that are no longer protected under the Clean Water Act. Advocates from groups like Trout Unlimited and Amigos Bravos partnered with EcoFlight to help a group

Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the high court overturned another long-standing precedent on Friday that could undue both recent reproductive rights court wins and further erode environmental protections. The court decided Lober Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Dept. of Commerce, two

The Supreme Court punted on Thursday on a second abortion decision it heard this term, leaving open the question of whether a federal law that protects abortion care in emergency rooms preempts state abortion bans. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Idaho v. U.S. on Thursday, sending the case back to

New Mexico has joined the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge, a national partnership effort to conserve and restore freshwater resources. President Joe Biden announced the challenge in April as part of the Earth Week celebrations. The goal is to “protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission denied a group of legislators' request to intervene in a case involving new generation and energy storage assets for the state’s largest utility. The legislators also asked the regulators to reconsider a final order issued in the case. The legislators argued that the Public

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at a Planned Parenthood space for LGBTQ youth in Albuquerque that if President Joe Biden wins a second term, he will continue the work he’s already doing to protect access to reproductive healthcare. Becerra visited Albuquerque as part of a multi-state

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it will hear oral arguments in a case over whether Tennessee and Kentucky anti-transgender laws violate the Constitution. Tennessee enacted a law in 2023 that bans gender-affirming healthcare for youth under 18. Three teenagers who have begun gender-affirming healthcare in Tennessee, along

A recent report by KFF, a foundation that provides health policy analysis, found mental health issues on the rise and disparities in mental health treatment in the U.S. for people of color. The report found that death by suicide, as well as increased drug overdoses rose during the COVID-19 pandemic

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that two fish species found in New Mexico do not meet the criteria for listing them as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. WildEarth Guardians petitioned the federal agency to list the Rio Grande chub and the Rio Grande sucker. “New

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a proposed settlement that would have ended the more-than decade-long dispute between Texas and New Mexico over water from the Rio Grande. The court denied the agreement because the proposed consent decree was not supported by the federal government and would

A majority of New Mexicans believe that New Mexico’s abortion laws should be less restrictive or should remain about the same as they are now. Similarly, over 60 percent say that abortion should always be legal or should be legal most of the time. New Mexico abortion laws are among

President Joe Biden leads former president Donald Trump in the race for New Mexico’s five electoral seats, according to a poll commissioned by NM Political Report. The poll, which took place on June 13 and 14 and was conducted by Public Policy Polling, showed 48 percent of New Mexico voters

Incumbent U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich starts the general election for his second reelection campaign ahead by seven points over his Republican challenger. According to a poll by Public Policy Polling commissioned by NM Political Report, Heinrich leads Republican Nella Domenici, a former hedge fund executive and daughter of long-term former

Food insecurity is on the rise as state benefits have decreased and the future of federal benefits have an uncertain future. Sonya Warwick, director of communications and events for the Albuquerque-based Roadrunner Foodbank, told NM Political Report that there are multiple reasons why the food bank is seeing an increase

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Texas-based Christian group trying to restrict access to abortion medication on Thursday. The case, FDA v. the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, lacked standing, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in the unanimous opinion. That means that the Christian doctors did not demonstrate

In the month of March 2024 alone, 1,650 clinician-provided abortions took place in New Mexico, according to the reproductive research organization, the Guttmacher Institute. Prior to the Dobbs decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, New Mexico abortion clinics averaged about 3,000 abortions a year. The

By Alicia Inez Guzmán, Searchlight New Mexico Last fall, the international community rose up in defense of the Pacific Ocean. Seafood and salt purveyors, public policy professors, scientists and environmentalists, all lambasted Japan’s release of radioactive wastewater from the disastrously damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea. At the

The program administrator for New Mexico’s community solar program released guidance Thursday for waitlisted projects. The new guidelines follow a petition from several developers who have projects on the waitlist, which led to an order from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission that provided some instructions on the selection of

New Mexico continues to rank at the bottom of the country for child well-being, with a score of 50th and also at the bottom for childhood education, according to the new KIDS Count Data Book. The Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT Data Book is an annual assessment of child

The estate of an inmate at Otero County Jail, who according to the complaint, died by suicide last year, is suing the Otero County Commission due to negligent care, inhumane conditions and constitutional rights violations at the jail. The inmate, Jacob Gutierrez, died by suicide in June 2023, according to

A representative from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office outlined on Thursday the bills the governor’s office will back during the upcoming special session, but the proposals upset legislators in the Court, Corrections and Justice Interim Committee on both sides of the aisle. Earlier this year, Lujan Grisham said she would

Residents of the Mountain View neighborhood in the South Valley of Albuquerque have filed a complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding environmental justice and air pollution in minority and low-income communities. The South Valley of Albuquerque is in an unincorporated area of Bernalillo County, but abuts the city

Every legislative seat is up for grabs in 2024, which means all incumbents who sought reelection had to face the voters. Most did not face primary opponents, or easily defeated their primary opponents. However, several lost or faced close races. Embattled state Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, the subject of accusations of

Incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won their New Mexico primaries, leading a primary with extremely low turnout. Both Biden and Trump have locked up their respective party’s nominations ahead of New Mexico’s primary. Still, both received just 84 percent of the vote, as of 11 p.m.

With nearly 53 percent of the precincts reporting as of 11 p.m. Tuesday, most of the legislative candidates endorsed by Planned Parenthood Votes New Mexico appear to have won. With former President Donald Trump making another bid for the White House, two new U.S. Supreme Court decisions pending that could

By Elliott Woods, Capital & Main After a century and a half of oil and gas production in the United States, the nonprofit environmental watchdog Climate Tracker published a sobering report in 2020: Some 2.6 million unplugged onshore wells lay scattered across the country. Plugging all those derelict holes, from

With another hot summer looming, Mexico is behind on its water deliveries to the United States, leading to water cutbacks in South Texas. A little-known federal agency has hit a roadblock in its efforts to get Mexico to comply.

Researchers from Purdue University published a study in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicating that a small fish that is only found in New Mexico may actually be two different species. This could have implications for the efforts to protect and conserve this unique animal.

The Center for Biological Diversity says that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not taking the steps necessary to protect an endangered mouse living in the Lincoln National Forest from cattle grazing. The wildlife advocacy group, along with the Maricopa Audubon Society, is pressuring the federal government to end

State regulators moved forward with approving the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s application for new solar and battery storage despite concerns that there are not enough new energy projects in the Central Consolidated School District to replace property tax revenue lost when the San Juan Generating Station closed. On

by Susanna Space, Searchlight New Mexico One Wednesday morning in April, Las Cruces City Councilor Johana Bencomo sat in a federal courtroom, watching with concern as a man was arraigned for making a death threat against her. “Stupid little bitch, get suicidal,” he had growled into her voicemail. “’Cause I

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the criteria for landowners to nominate private lands adjacent to public lands that can be sold or exchanged under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act. Under the law, landowners who have parcels adjacent to federal lands in 12 western states, including New Mexico,

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury secured $8.3 million for childhood development and youth services in the 1st congressional district through federal community project funding. Stansbury, a Democrat, announced this funding during a press conference at Youth Development, Inc., one of the funding recipients, along with several Tribal leaders and a representative

By Jerry Redfern, Capital & Main Over the past month, in public meetings stretching from the Navajo Nation to Albuquerque, public officials and company representatives unveiled a picture of a new hydrogen energy industry being built in the northwest corner of New Mexico. The presentations reveal hydrogen production, transportation, power

By Rae Ellen Bichell The federal government in 2020 and 2023 changed who it said could safely donate organs and blood, reducing the restrictions on men who have had sex with another man. But the FDA’s restrictions on donated tissue, a catchall term encompassing everything from a person’s eyes to