A U.S. Air Force veteran and the first African American elected to the New Mexico Senate, Harold Pope Jr. is pursuing a new avenue of leadership as he seeks his party’s nomination for lieutenant governor.

The Albuquerque Democrat is running for statewide office for the first time in a race against Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver in the June primary.

In the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Pope joins Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to share why he decided to run for the position and offer an explanation of how he would approach the role.

Pope, who says he recognizes he is an underdog in the race, feels he has a good shot to win and said he will “listen to what people want” and not just whatever his party puts forth when it comes to supporting legislation at the Roundhouse.

In a position that is often in the shadow of the governor, Pope also said he would like to take on a more prominent role than past lieutenant governors.

Born and raised in Pueblo, Colo., Pope shares his story of entering the Air Force after high school and speaks on his family’s background, which has Northern New Mexico ties. He also talks about his current pursuit of a doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University, which he feels will help him in his position as vice chair of the Senate Education Committee.

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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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A 13th generation New Mexican with a 5-month-old daughter, Juan De Jesus Sanchez III says he’s running for state land commissioner with an eye toward the future.

The farmer and conservation advocate who lives in Valencia County was the first candidate to announce an intention to succeed Stephanie Garcia Richard as leader of the State Land Office and he received the most votes from delegates at last month’s Democratic Party of New Mexico’s preprimary convention. He's running in the primary against state Rep. Matthew McQueen of Galisteo and Jonas Moya, a former state director of the Farm Service Agency.

In the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Sanchez joins Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to share his background and discuss what his priorities would be if elected to office.

Sanchez has spent years working with water as a former natural resource specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a technical advisor for the New Mexico Acequia Commission. He said he’s “trying to bring more of a long-term vision” to the State Land Office and wants to “protect areas that are sacred and special to us.”

Chacón asks Sanchez about his thoughts on greater oversight of leases to private land owners considering Jeffrey Epstein was allowed to lease public land through the State Land Office for grazing purposes until the agency canceled the leases in 2019, when Epstein was indicted in New York and arrested on charges of child sex trafficking.

Sanchez, a former political director and deputy campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, speaks about how he plans to balance the pursuit of revenue while considering environmental stewardship. He also talks about wanting to decentralize the State Land Office and ensure there are jobs throughout the state by working with universities to open satellite offices that would allow the department to have employees on the ground across New Mexico.

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With 24 years of experience in the FBI and well over 30 years in law enforcement, New Mexico state Rep. Bill Hall has spent much of his life in the pursuit of justice. Now, the retired FBI agent is part his home state’s investigation into criminal acts of abuse that took place at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch south of Santa Fe.

In the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Hall joins Santa Fe New Mexican senior politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to offer insight on the progress the so-called Epstein “truth commission” has made thus far, what it’s next steps are and what hurdles the committee faces as it seeks to uncover what happened at Zorro Ranch.

One of four members of the bipartisan commission, which was formed during New Mexico’s recent legislative session, Hall said he admires his state for “stepping up” to take on a massive fact-finding mission aimed at pursuing allegations of abuse that were never fully investigated while Epstein was alive.

In the episode, Hall address the challenges of investigating such a sprawling case with allegations of criminal activity and corruption that took place many years ago.

"This is a big endeavor. I don't know how it'll look over time, but we're willing to take the challenge on,” he said.

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U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury has been a vocal critic of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the U.S. Department of Justice over the handling of millions of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. This week, she joined U.S. Rep Summer Lee in filing articles of impeachment against Bondi, saying Bondi and the Department of Justice have failed survivors, obstructed justice, lied to the courts, and defied Congress and the law.

On Friday, Stansbury spoke with Santa Fe New Mexican politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón about the DOJ’s “complete and total mismanagement” of the Epstein case and what she said is "very truly a cover-up” of information in the case and a failure to prosecute crimes.

The New Mexico Democrat said she believes there’s a “complete obstruction of justice in the case” and a continuing effort to shield President Donald Trump, who is named thousands of times in the files. She discusses the Department of Justice’s failure to comply with the Epstein Transparency Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law in November and mandates that the DOJ release all unclassified records regarding Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Stansbury shares why she and fellow Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Thursday walked out of a closed-door briefing on the Epstein files by Justice Department leaders, saying Bondi refused to commit to honor a subpoena and testify under oath over the Epstein files.

Chacón asks Stansbury if we’ll reach a point where Trump is deposed. Noting she supported former President Bill Clinton being deposed, she said “Congress is conducting an investigation into the most extensive sexual criminal enterprise in American history. You don’t get a pass just because you’re a former president or a current president.”

Stansbury goes on to describe some of the alleged crimes committed at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch near Stanley, New Mexico. She mentioned a lawsuit filed against Epstein by a man who claimed he was invited to a party at the ranch and was drugged and raped along with other young men.

Chacón also asks Stansbury about the Department of Homeland Security partial shutdown and her thoughts on the likelihood of the passage of the SAVE Act.

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Jonas Moya has a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.

Over the weekend, the Democratic Party of New Mexico held its pre-primary convention where party delegates voted to designate candidates for the June ballot. Candidates needed to receive at least 20% of the vote to earn a spot on the ballot. Those who failed to meet the threshold need to submit additional petition signatures by next week to run in the primary.

As a Democratic candidate for state land commissioner, Moya received about 7% of the vote at the convention. On Thursday, Moya said he needs about 1,700 more signatures to qualify for the primary.

On the latest episode of “Around the Roundhouse,” Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón speaks with Moya about why he’s decided to keep fighting to stay in the race and discuss what his priorities would be if he were to be elected state land commissioner.

A fourth-generation rancher from Tucumcari, Moya is a former Joe Biden-appointed state director of the Farm Service Agency. He talks about his experience working in the agency and his other relevant experience.

Moya shares what he would focus on if elected, including addressing an incoming “tidal wave” of retirees at the State Land Office, building and diversifying revenue streams, and using state land for affordable housing projects. He also talks about how he would address dumping on state land.

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