Former Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley said tonight that he’s “heavily considering” running for the Public Regulation Commission District 5 seat next year.
“It’s a very important job, and there are some issues that are important to me that the PRC deals with,” McCamley said.
Among those issues the Democrat cited are “job creation through alternative energy,” ethics in government, and — depending on what happens at the federal level — health insurance reform.
“These are things that I have a good background in,” McCamley said. “The PRC provides me with an opportunity to work on them, and that interests me.”
McCamley said he plans to make a decision on whether to run by the weekend.
The PRC seat is currently held by Democrat Sandy Jones — the PRC’s chairman — but Jones confirmed tonight that he will run for state land commissioner next year instead of seeking re-election. McCamley is the first to publicly announce his interest in replacing Jones.
McCamley served one term on the county commission, leaving office in December. He opted against seeking re-election in 2008 and instead ran for Congress, but he lost in last year’s Democratic primary to Harry Teague, who went on to win the seat.
McCamley, who lives in Las Cruces, graduated from Mayfield High School and New Mexico State University before heading to Harvard to earn a master’s degree. During his tenure on the county commission, McCamley also worked for two years as director of a nonprofit that works on infrastructure and other issues in rural communities.
McCamley currently works for New Mexico State University as a development officer in the College of Arts and Sciences.
As I’ve disclosed in the past, I’m friends with McCamley. Click here to read more about that.