Well-known Roosevelt county resident and fourth-generation New Mexican Matt Rush has declared his candidacy for state House of Representatives District 63.
“There is no story I enjoy to tell more than the story of New Mexico agriculture,” Rush, a Republican, said in a news release. “After a lifetime of service and leadership within the American farm and ranch community, the time is now right for me to serve the people of New Mexico in Santa Fe.”
Rush’s family homesteaded in Roosevelt County during the early 1900s, and Rush continues the farming and ranching tradition of his great-great-grandfather. To support his farming and ranching operation, Rush travels the country as a professional speaker, conducting leadership and motivational seminars.
He has represented American agriculture in Germany as part of an agricultural exchange program, currently serves on the Berea Children’s Home Board of Directors, the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Agriculture Board of Directors and is president of the Roosevelt County Farm & Livestock Bureau.
Rush said he is concerned with the quality of representation rural New Mexico is receiving in Santa Fe.
“Southeast New Mexico needs a leader that hasn’t forgotten what the values of rural New Mexico are and someone with the dedication to make real changes in this state,” he said.
Rush also said he intends to work hard to ensure New Mexico becomes more family friendly by supporting a reduction in taxes, traditional marriage, securing the permanent fund for education and revamping the highway department.
“I know what it’s like to feel forgotten by Santa Fe in rural New Mexico. For that matter, anyone who’s driven down a road in Southeastern New Mexico knows what it’s like to be forgotten by Santa Fe,” Rush said. “It’s time for a change in our state government and, more importantly, it is time for us to get back to the principles that this state and this country was founded upon.”
District 63 sprawls throughout New Mexico’s east side and encompasses parts of Curry, DeBaca, Roosevelt and Guadalupe counties.
“For far too long have I sat and watched not only our agriculture community get the short end of the stick, but our entire rural community, at the hands of Santa Fe politics,” Rush said. “It’s time to end the same old policies that have put our families and small businesses at risk.”
Rush will face incumbent Democrat Jose Campos of Santa Rosa in November.