Kent Cravens (Photo: Peter St. Cyr)
‘We’ve hit a pretty serious bump in the road. … New Mexico needs a strong, but thoughtful and caring, hand to guide her through getting over that bump in the road,’ the lieutenant governor candidate says
Pledging to reduce government spending, create jobs and make streets safer, Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque, announced today that he’s running for lieutenant governor.
“The agenda coming from Santa Fe has been unhealthy for our local economy, communities and individual prosperity,” Cravens said at a news conference at his wife’s business in Albuquerque. “Working together, we can bring government back to the people, on a personal level so that we can solve the big problems facing New Mexico.”
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Cravens, who was introduced by former Mothers Against Drunken Driving Executive Director Terry Huertaz, touted his business experience to the 80 supporters who attended the event.
‘This is my spot’
Cravens guaranteed his supporters not just a primary win, but a general-election win next November.
The three-term senator says people asked him why he wasn’t running for Congress or governor, but he decided the lieutenant governor’s office is the right role for him now.
“We’re going to take back Santa Fe for sanity and for some sobriety in fiscal responsibility,” Cravens said. “We’re going to take back the fourth floor in Santa Fe and shine the light of truth on what’s been going on. We’re going to manage it a lot differently.”
Cravens said the state can learn from Wall Street: “Companies are learning to do more with less — government needs to learn to do more with less.”
He says his campaign will focus on three key areas: Jobs, energy and tax policy.
“Together, my wife Melanie and I have built our business from the ground up, and we know first-hand the challenges New Mexico businesses and families face in this tough economy. I will fight to create jobs, reduce taxes and out of control government spending,” Cravens said. “In order to restore trust in our elected officials, we must demand accountability and transparency at all levels of government.”
Cravens’ personal life took a dramatic turn when a drunk driver took the lives of his sister-in-law and her three daughters on Christmas Eve in 1992. Once elected to the State Senate in 2000, Kent worked with members of both parties and countless individuals and organizations to pass some of the most aggressive DWI reform initiatives in the country.
“This is our state and this is our future. Working together, we have passed and implemented the nation’s most aggressive DWI reform measures, leading to a 35-percent reduction in death and injury on our state’s highways,” Cravens said. “However, as long as people are still dying, I know there is still work to be done.”
Two other Republicans have declared their candidacies for lieutenant governor — former State Rep. Brian Moore and former GOP gubernatorial nominee J.R. Damron.
Six Democrats — Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, state Sens. Linda Lopez and Gerald Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque, State Rep. Joe Campos of Santa Rosa, retiring Mid-Region Council of Governments Executive Director Lawrence Rael and former Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Brian Colón — have also launched campaigns for lieutenant governor.
St. Cyr is a contributing writer for this site and a reporter at 770KKOB.com. He can be reached at peter.stcyr@gmail.com.