Courtesy The Independant News
The New Mexico League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County held a Candidate Forum Sept. 30 for House District 50 ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.
Democrat Matthew McQueen, the current representative for District 50 and Republican candidate, current Edgewood Mayor and Town Commissioner Kenneth Donald Brennan, debated issues like education, abortion, crime, and economic disparities within the district.
Both candidates agreed that education was one of the big issues facing the district. Brennan said that schools can improve by focusing on math and developing “multiple ways to teach.”
McQueen said increasing teacher pay to be competitive with surrounding states has helped attract teachers.
“We funded early childhood education,” McQueen said. “My kids are eight and 10 and they had the opportunity to go to Montessori school before they went to public school, and that really helps. It gets the kids ready to be in the classroom.”
When asked whether they thought the courts were doing enough to enforce existing laws and to discourage crime in our state, both candidates said the district could be doing a better job. Brennan said he thinks that when convicted offenders are released early or receive lesser sentences through plea deals, they are “emboldened to recommit more crimes.” He said the dedicated law enforcement officers in the state work a difficult, dangerous job and are sometimes unappreciated.
“By improving the education and the availability of good jobs out there for people, it will have a trickle-down effect and also help reduce crime,” Brennan said.
McQueen agreed with Brennan that plea bargains and early release of inmates contribute to the crime issue in New Mexico, and that improving education is one of the keys to reducing crime.
“No matter how tough on crime we are, if we don’t address the underlying causes of crime — poverty and addiction, and education and economic development go into that too — we will never solve the public safety issue,” McQueen said.
Brennan said that educating young people would also help them have a better respect for human life. When asked what legislation the candidates would endorse to reduce gun violence in New Mexico, Brennan did not point to specific legislation but did say, “It’s not necessarily a gun violence issue, it’s a violence issue.”
McQueen said he thinks guns turn petty disagreements into potentially lethal disagreements,and he has a record in the Legislature of supporting reasonable gun safety laws.
“I’ve supported the red flag law that has a process to temporarily take guns away from people who are a threat to themselves or to others. I supported the bill to end open carry in voting places,” McQueen said. “People were parading around voting places, it’s an intimidation tactic, and that shouldn’t happen. You should feel safe when you go vote. I would definitely support raising the age to buy assault weapons. I would support restrictions on assault weapons.”
The candidates were asked what action the Legislature should take to address and resolve the issues of racial and income inequality. Brennan said that wages should be based on performance and that workers should be paid according to their abilities and knowledge.
“If you get a person that’s doing astronomically well, then that person should be compensated more than the other people,” he said. “It has nothing to do with what they look like, how they talk, who they pray to. It’s all about how they do the job.”
McQueen said he is proud to serve in a House caucus that is “racially diverse and majority female.” He said he thinks unions are one of the best ways to empower workers, and that the rich should pay their fair share of taxes.
“We had a proposal a couple years ago to increase the working families tax credit,” McQueen said. “We were going to pay for that by an increase in the capital gains tax. Every single Republican voted against that.”
The candidates had different answers when asked whether they support a woman’s right to choose. McQueen called Edgewood’s local abortion ban “unconstitutional on multiple levels.”
“Since it was passed by the town commission, so far they have failed three times to successfully submit the paperwork,” McQueen said. “This is an abuse of power. It’s a political stunt, and I as a state legislator need a local government that is working on local issues, and abortion is not a local issue that the town of Edgewood gets to decide.”
Brennan said that he knows there are some Republicans who say there should be “no abortion whatsoever,” but extreme views on either end of the abortion debate are not right. However, he said he does not support late-term abortions in most cases.
“In this state, an abortion is legal all the way up until birth. At the ninth month, the baby can be aborted. People say, ‘Well, that’s not true.’ You go ahead and you look at the legislation. It is in there,” Brennan said. “Around the 22nd week, that baby becomes viable. That baby has a brain, that baby has a heartbeat, that baby has blood circulating through its veins. That baby also has a very unique DNA. And if you were to go and test that DNA, that DNA comes up as human. It doesn’t come up as a fetus.”
Brennan said “there are always exceptions” in cases where the expectant mother’s health is at risk or the baby is not developing properly and will not make it to term or die shortly after birth.
“I trust women to make the decision that’s right for them, and that’s sort of the end of it,” McQueen said. “What I will not do is support the government harassing and targeting women.”
This piece originally ran in The Independent News.
