When members of the state GOP’s central committee meet on Saturday to choose their leaders for the next two years, at least one Las Crucen will be a candidate.
Isaac E. Chavez, a former state House and Las Cruces City Council candidate, announced his candidacy for 1st vice chair of the state party in a Monday letter to members of the central committee.
He’ll face the party’s current secretary, Nina Martinez, who is the only other declared candidate.
“In order for our Party to recover from the devastating losses of the past few years, we will all need to roll up our sleeves and work harder than we have ever done before! This means that the next Chairman of the Party is going to need a 1st Vice Chair who has a plan based on fresh, new ideas and the work ethic to implement them,” Chavez wrote in the letter. “We need a 1st Vice Chair who is not tied to any factions or beholden to any single particular geographical area of the state.”
Other Republicans from the state’s second largest city could still become candidates for one of the leadership positions, but at this point, Chavez is the only declared candidate from the southern part of the state.
“Now is not the time to feel sorry for ourselves about our recent losses, but rather to seek out new ideas and strategies so that we can win again in 2010 and 2012!” Chavez wrote in his letter. “…We need to come together as a team and fight like hell to stop Bill Richardson from destroying our State and livelihoods!
Chavez ran unsuccessfully against state Rep. Andy Nuñez in 2006 and for a city council seat in 2007.