{"id":2904,"date":"2008-02-21T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-21T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/two-announce-bids-for-abq-area-legislative-seats\/"},"modified":"2008-02-21T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-21T20:30:00","slug":"two-announce-bids-for-abq-area-legislative-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/two-announce-bids-for-abq-area-legislative-seats\/","title":{"rendered":"Two announce bids for ABQ-area legislative seats"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Democratic business-planning consultant and Republican who is a former chairman of the state Commission on Higher Education announced today their candidacies for Albuquerque-area seats in the state Legislature. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Tim Keller<\/a>, a Democrat who wants to \u201cbring new and ethical leadership to Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>,\u201d is running for the state Senate District 17<\/a> seat currently held by Democrat Shannon Robinson<\/a>. Ron Toya<\/a>, a Republican who says he will focus on education issues, is running for the state House District 17<\/a> seat currently held by Democrat Ed Sandoval<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cI am running for office because the needs of our district are substantial. As a state senator, I will fight for working families in our district,\u201d Keller said in a news release. \u201cIt\u2019s that basic. I will champion affordable and accessible health care, ethical government, better education, safer neighborhoods and new jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Keller, who would be representing a Southeast<\/st1:placename> Heights<\/st1:placetype> district if he wins, is a native of Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame who, after college, co-founded a non-profit that seeks to help disadvantaged people in Cambodia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>. Today, Keller is a business-planning consultant and volunteers with groups that foster economic opportunities in the area.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Keller, who has been endorsed by the Conservation Voters of New Mexico, plans to officially kick off his campaign Saturday at El Norteno Restaurant, 6416 Zuni Road<\/a> in Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, from 2-4 p.m.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Toya, a former federal service employee with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and General Services Administration, is running to represent the North<\/st1:placename> Valley<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> district.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a former chairman of the state Commission on Higher Education, improving New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s education system is a top priority of mine, so that our students are truly equipped to be competitive in the job market and lead prosperous lives,\u201d he said in a news release. \u201cI am also committed to reducing crime in the Albuquerque<\/st1:city> area, fighting for greater job growth and economic development in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> and ensuring that our government officials perform honorably and are held accountable for unethical behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

A graduate of Valley<\/st1:placetype> High School<\/st1:placetype> in Albuquerque<\/st1:city> and Westmont<\/st1:placename> College<\/st1:placetype> in Santa Barbara<\/st1:city>, Calif.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>, Toya has been awarded the New Mexico State Distinguished Public Service Award and is a member of the Jemez Pueblo. He is also the founder of the Tribal Government Institute. He is married to Peggy Toya and has a son, Douglass.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNew Mexicans can and should expect more from their government,\u201d Toya said. \u201cWe can build safer communities, build a stronger economy, better educate our kids for their future and ours, be good stewards of the environment while meeting our energy needs, and restore character and integrity to government. I look forward to meeting these goals in the state Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Democratic business-planning consultant and Republican who is a former chairman of the state Commission on Higher Education announced today their candidacies for Albuquerque-area seats in the state Legislature. Tim Keller, a Democrat who wants to \u201cbring new and ethical leadership to Santa Fe,\u201d is running for the state Senate District 17 seat currently held […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}