Harry Montoya
Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya formally announced his entrance into the Democratic primary for state land commissioner late Wednesday.
“I believe it is time for a change in the New Mexico Land Office. I want to provide quality representation to the people of New Mexico,” he said in a news release announcing his candidacy.
Montoya cited ethics and transparency as an important part of his platform.
“I will run an open and transparent office, where the public has access to the information regarding the way their public lands, minerals and resources are managed in New Mexico,” he said.
Montoya pledged to digitize all land office records and provide access to them on the office’s Web site. He also pledged to call for an audit of all resources on his first day in office and require all staff to “sign a code of conduct and ensure no conflicts of interests exist.”
Montoya confirmed last month that he was running and said a formal announcement would come this month. Public Regulation Commission Chairman Sandy Jones and former state Land Commissioner Ray Powell have also entered the Democratic primary.
On the Republican side, GOP activist Bob Cornelius and retired law-enforcement agent Errol Chavez are running.
They’re all battling to replace the GOP’s Pat Lyons, the current land commissioner who is term limited from seeking re-election.
Montoya was first elected county commissioner in 2002. In 2006, he ran unopposed and won re-election. Before elected to the commission, he served eight years on the Pojoaque Valley School Board, and he is a past president of the state school board association.
He’s a native New Mexican who has been married to Doris for 28 years. They have two children, Brian, 27 and Angelo, 22, and three grandchildren. He is CEO of Hand Across Culture Corp., a non-profit agency involved in community mobilization efforts that includes educational, health and social services programs.
Montoya has a master’s degree in counseling psychology from New Mexico State University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Westmar University in LeMars, Iowa.
As a former president of the school board association, Montoya said in Wednesday’s news release that he understands education and will look for additional ways to use state trust land to fund higher education in New Mexico.
“The public Land Office and education are one in the same in New Mexico, and education will be a top priority for me,” he said.