Julie Ann Grimm
Reproductive freedom. Gun violence on school campuses. Teacher retention. The topics at the Jan. 28 forum for candidates in New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District were generated by young women and spoke to their concerns, while also touching on pressing issues for all of Northern New Mexico.
"Smart Girls, Bold Questions," presented by Girls Inc., garnered a packed house at James A. Little Theater, and a full stage as eight of nine of the Democratic candidates for the June 2 primary election participated in the event. They were: District Attorney Marco Serna; State Rep. Joseph Sanchez, D-Alcalde; Sandoval County Treasurer Laura Montoya; former state Deputy Secretary of State John Blair; Santa Fe lawyer Teresa Leger Fernandez; former CIA agent Valerie Plame; Taos environmental lawyer Kyle Tisdel; and former Navajo Nation presidential candidate Dineh Benally.
One Democrat who has declared intentions in the race, Gavin Kaiser, did not attend. None of the four Republicans in that party's primary, Alexis Johnson, Audra Lee Brown, Karen Bedonie and Ben Bateman, participated.
Most of the candidates expressed unconditional support for a woman's right to choose, with Leger Fernandez pointing out that she's received endorsements from both NARAL and Emily's List, two national organizations that back pro-choice candidates. Sanchez, however, said he opposes so-called "late-term abortions" and Benally referred to pregnancy as a "gift from God."
Julie Ann Grimm
The students also asked candidates to address violence on school campuses, and share their stance on automatic weapons. Plame described the conflict over gun ownership as a "national psychosis," while Tisdel referred to the violence itself as an "epidemic." Serna said he supported a ban automatic weapons, noting that as district attorney, "I see all the time guns falling into the wrong hands." Sanchez noted that in rural areas such as where he is from, "people believe in protecting themselves" and that more needed to be done to identify "red flags."
One student, noting that she'd spent an entire semester without a health teacher, asked the candidates how they would help progress the federal Preparing and Retaining Education Professionals (PREP) Act, co-sponsored by US Senators Susan Collins, R-ME, and Tim Kaine, D-VA. In response, many of the candidates mentioned their own family members who were teachers and first-hand knowledge of the problem. Plame noted the longstanding financial issues facing public education: "We've never given it enough money," she said. "It's always been underfunded…your next congresswoman should be able to get those resources."
While other questions spoke to environmental issues such as single-source plastic use and how they would support local farmers if elected to Congress, the organizers also asked the candidates to have fun and get personal.
The opening question asked the congressional hopefuls what superpower they would most want. Blair said he'd want to be able to fly in order to visit the vast district more easily, with Montoya invoking the power of teleportation not just through space, but time as well: "So that we can learn from our mistakes." Serna began by saying he'd like the magic power to impeach President Donald Trump, but then became both somber and choked up when he said he would want the power to heal the sick, and shared that his 1-month-old son is in the hospital. Tisdale said he would like the ability to "to spread love and compassion amongst our communities."
Julie Ann Grimm
The young organizers also asked the candidates what advice they might give their younger selves. Blair, an openly gay candidate, said he was in the closet as a teenager and would advise himself to "to embrace what makes you different; that's what makes you interesting when you're older." Leger Fernandez said her advice was to "do whatever you do with passion." Montoya: "Stop sweating the small stuff." Plame said she worried "too much about what other people thought" when she was younger and wishes she had tried more things. Sanchez would advise himself to be less shy. Serna said he'd tell himself to listen more. Tisdale would go back and tell his teenage self to get in the streets early to fight against climate change. Benally advised to enjoy the moment because "life is short."
In the event's aftermath, one of its organizers, Tho-Biaz Wilder, a student in the Master's Program at Santa Fe Community College, expressed satisfaction with the night's proceedings. "I feel really proud of all of the girls because we put a lot of hard work into it."
As for her own takeaway, she said she was learning toward Plame as the candidate she favored. "Just her past occupation is really interesting to me, and also that she'd want to make a change knowing the insides and outside of government. I think we need more people like that who want to seek some sort of change because of personal experience."
