Republicans in the state House of Representatives picked Keith Gardner to be their new minority whip this weekend.
With that move, they replaced one Roswell politico — Dan Foley, who lost his primary race in June — with another. The Roswell Daily Record reported that Gardner beat another House Republican to win the two-year term as the caucus’ whip, but the opponent’s name and the vote tally was not disclosed.
During the Saturday meeting in Albuquerque, the GOP caucus decided to keep Tom Taylor of Farmington as its minority leader and Anna Crook of Clovis as its caucus chair.
House Republicans are turning their focus to the economy, announcing in a news release about the election of the leaders that they are preparing for what Taylor called “serious budgeting challenges” in the coming session.
Gardner, who has held his seat since 2004, said in the release that, “during these difficult times, I am honored and humbled to have earned the support of my colleagues for this leadership position.”
“Like most families and small businesses across New Mexico, we at the Legislature are going to have to focus on cost-cutting to pull through this,” he said.