Rep. Garcia to challenge Gwaltney for DNC position

State Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, is challenging Mary Gail Gwaltney later this month for the position of Democratic national committeewoman for New Mexico.

Garcia said this may be the first time Gwaltney has had a challenger in her 13 years as the state’s committeewoman. She said Gwaltney hasn’t done a good job of communicating with local and state Democrats about what’s happening on the national level or of taking New Mexico’s issues to the Democratic National Committee.

“I’ve always like challenges. I just feel that with leadership you involve people. It’s a participatory process, and I don’t feel we’ve had that with Mary Gail,” Garcia said. “I just think we need better representation.”

Democrats in each state elect a national committeewoman and a national committeeman to the DNC. In addition to being charged with representing the state’s issues to the national party and communicating national issues to the state’s Democrats, both are superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.

Raymond Sanchez is the national committeeman for New Mexico’s Democrats.

Gwaltney and Garcia have both pledged their support for Hillary Clinton in the presidential primary, so Garcia’s challenge won’t likely affect that race. But it is causing a stir locally because both are from Las Cruces, and Garcia’s challenge is forcing local Democrats to take sides.

“It’s kind of thrown a curve ball to some of the delegates around here,” Garcia said.

Gwaltney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Democrats in the Second Congressional District meet on April 12 to elect delegates to the presidential delegate convention. At that statewide convention on April 26, some 400 delegates will elect leaders, including national committeewoman.

Garcia said she had been thinking about challenging Gwaltney for some time. She can focus on doing that this year because, though she’s up for re-election, no one is challenging her for her legislative seat this year.

Garcia said her candidacy for national committeewoman has drawn a lot of support, particularly from progressive Democrats, in part because she sponsored the bill that led to New Mexico’s switch to paper ballots several years ago, and also because she’s been active in the push for ethics reform. Garcia said she expects to receive a lot of support from communities including Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Corrales, Albuquerque and Doña Ana County.

“I have established a reputation that I am a hard worker and I do get things accomplished,” Garcia said.

Garcia is a lifelong resident of New Mexico who grew up on a farm in Doña Ana County. She and her husband George have two adult daughters. She is a former school teacher and principal, and has been in the Legislature since 1997.

Gwaltney is currently serving her fourth term as national committeewoman and also serves on the executive board of the DNC. She has lived in Las Cruces for 48 years. Her husband served in the state Senate for 10 years.

A prior version of this posting contained incorrect information about Gwaltney’s husband.