{"id":41643,"date":"2012-09-03T21:09:21","date_gmt":"2012-09-04T03:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=41643"},"modified":"2012-09-04T19:39:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-05T01:39:00","slug":"faith-is-byrds-top-priority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/09\/faith-is-byrds-top-priority\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith is Byrd\u2019s top priority"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Republican<\/a>

Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Jeff Byrd (Courtesy photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Jeff Byrd says his Christian faith has carried him through difficult times and will influence how he votes if he\u2019s elected.<\/h4>\n

The summer Jeff Byrd<\/a> turned 16, he ran. And while he ran the three-mile loop around the back pasture of his family\u2019s ranch north of Mosquero<\/a>, he prayed.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t remember specific prayers. \u201cI know I spent a lot of time thinking about who I am and what I want to be,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was my time to meditate, think and to pray.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 20 years later, Byrd says his faith is his top priority in life. It\u2019s carried him through his father\u2019s cancer diagnosis, his 17-year marriage to his wife Suzanne and a shift in careers when he took over his family\u2019s ranch after his father\u2019s death. He prayed with his wife and pastor when he was deliberating whether to run for representative of the 3rd Congressional District, a seat currently held by Democrat Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI generally was able to handle the real stressful times because I was able to share it with a friend, if you will,\u201d he said, referring to his relationship with God.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old Republican recently talked about his faith, his childhood, his jobs and how they all intersect with his political beliefs during phone conversations from his family\u2019s home in Tucumcari.<\/p>\n

As a boy, Byrd was naturally drawn to ranch life, a \u201chorse and cow kid,\u201d he said. He wanted to be a cowboy and his older brother wanted to be a mechanic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was tearing apart the lawn mower, and I was messing with the horses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He started riding a little Pinto horse when he was a preschooler. In the Byrd family \u2013 and in most families living in Harding County \u2013 honesty and hard work are important values, Byrd said. He was in elementary school when he started what he calls \u201cany productive work\u201d on the ranch: milking and taking care of the cows, working the wells, improving the corrals and fixing machinery.<\/p>\n

Church was a fixture in Byrd\u2019s life as well. His mom took him and his older sister and brother to the local Catholic church, where Byrd became an altar boy. On Wednesdays, he walked to church after school to ring the bells before service. He still remembers the sound of the three bell tones.<\/p>\n

Sometimes priests called on him to serve during special services or funerals. He fondly recalled the annual outdoor service near an altar on a cliff rock where he could find arrowheads and eat potluck meals.<\/p>\n

His Baptist father read scripture every Sunday evening after dinner from a big family Bible that had their family tree inscribed in the front. \u201cA lot of times he would read verses out loud to us, things that were important or interesting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

By time Byrd reached sixth grade, he was as big as the high-schoolers – 5\u20198 and 180 pounds. Kids called him Moose. When a new high-school basketball coach required everyone be in shape to play on the team, Byrd spent that summer running. It was during those runs that Byrd felt his relationship with God develop.<\/p>\n

Getting involved in politics<\/h3>\n

His relationship with politics came a few years later, during college at New Mexico State University. His family has always talked openly about religion and politics, and Byrd doesn\u2019t understand why some people prefer not to discuss the subjects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always talked about both because they are both important to who we are as a people,\u201d he said. \u201cOur culture is driven by who we are as a people. If we don\u2019t keep them in discussion, we lose track of what\u2019s really going on. A lot of people have differing views of how we can achieve certain goals. If we aren\u2019t going to talk about them, how are we going to find a reasonable solution?\u201d<\/p>\n

His family hasn\u2019t had a uniform loyalty to either major political party, switching parties over the years. Byrd registered as a Republican when he was 18 and has confirmed his conservative beliefs over the years.<\/p>\n

In the rural northeastern part of the state where the only statewide newspaper doesn\u2019t deliver, Byrd gets Texas news, instead of New Mexico. His political focus has been national. Since college, he\u2019s followed federal politics by reading proposed legislation on a congressional website and checking to see how New Mexico politicians have voted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been one that thinks you need to know who you are voting for, and I don\u2019t generally take one media source as a rule,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While he tracked politics, Byrd didn\u2019t think about getting involved until much later. But his career did shape how he felt about government. At a small company called Environeering, he was an environmental engineer who felt a part of the business.<\/p>\n

When the owners discussed the cost of government regulations, Byrd was in the office listening and absorbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in Washington are great about saying, \u2018It\u2019s not going to cost us anything,\u2019 and yet it does cost to implement new rules and regulations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

An altered path<\/h3>\n

Then, a series of events altered Byrd\u2019s career path. Both of his grandmothers died. His father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died three weeks later when Byrd was 28 and traveling often for work. A short time later Byrd was on his way to the airport in New York on Sept. 11 when the terrorists struck the city. That cinched it: He was done being away from his family so much.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Jeff<\/a><\/dt>\n

Jeff Byrd, Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District<\/strong>, on his Christian faith: \u201cI\u2019m hoping it\u2019s made me a better person. I am content. I\u2019m not a person that uses the phrase, \u2018However God leads me\u2019 because I believe we have free choice, but I still try to be a faithful person, I try to be the person God would want me to be. I fail over and over because I\u2019m not God himself.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Byrd is shown here working on his ranch. (Courtesy photo)\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

He started work at Navajo Refinery while also running his family\u2019s 3,500-acre ranch. In 2008, the family \u2013 including now 8-year-old Zachary and Noah, who turned 10 this month \u2013 settled in Tucumcari.<\/p>\n

The family attends Divine Connection, an unaffiliated Baptist church in Tucumcari. Byrd said his relationship with God has grown in recent years, as he\u2019s shifted from a \u201cDoubting Thomas\u201d to someone who has seen confirmation of God.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (God) doesn\u2019t give you a definite path or make you whole, but you begin to understand how you should live and how you should handle yourself in situations around you,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s that understanding that gives you the peace people are looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrd cited two instances that reaffirmed God\u2019s presence to him. One happened in November when a guy told Byrd he had considered running in the race but knew he didn\u2019t have to when he heard Byrd\u2019s name. Byrd had not decided to run yet. In another, a woman he didn\u2019t know embraced Byrd and his candidacy so warmly, he said the \u201conly way that can be is if God is real and working.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thinks his Christian faith has enabled him to get along with anyone and relate to different people, whether they are the high-school students he likes to play basketball with or the older people he knows in his community.<\/p>\n

He sprinkles his conversation with scriptures and political quotes. When talking about being a true Christian \u2013 what he considers his biggest challenge in life \u2013 he refers to a President Jimmy Carter quote. When Carter was asked if he cheated on his wife, he said he had in his heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone could relate to Jimmy Carter because everyone is fallible and makes mistakes,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s accepting that we all veer away from true committed relationships at time. Not that we ever ran out and had a relationship with someone else, but your mind pulls you away at times to unpure thoughts. It\u2019s commitment every day. You have to make that decision every day not to go away from your spouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

He refers to another former president, Ronald Reagan, as a model for his own political career. \u201cHe was well known for saying what he means and meaning what he says and following through,\u201d Byrd said. \u201cWhether people agreed with him or not, he did what he said he would do, so people respected him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018You have to tie it all together\u2019<\/h3>\n

Byrd is clear about who he is and how he will vote his Christian principles. He is pro-life and doesn\u2019t appreciate so-called Christian politicians who cite Bible verses to justify their decisions and ignore the rest of God\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big part of your call is to not read one verse and assume you know what it means,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to tie it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t believe church and state should be separated since, he said, that\u2019s not part of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the founders believed in Christ,\u201d he said. \u201cThey prayed every day as a group. We were founded as a Christian nation. More than half of the sitting presidents have stated that we are a Christian nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He mentions the 2005 lawsuit in which people wanted to remove three crosses in the city of Las Cruces\u2019 official logo. \u201cThe first amendment is freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. For years we used the Bible to read out of. How was it constitutional before and now it\u2019s not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether or not Byrd has a chance to follow his Christian beliefs in elected office next year, he will accept God\u2019s decision. \u201cIf I lose, I get to stay and keep working on the ranch and be with the kids here, working with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Deborah Busemeyer is a freelance writer living in Santa Fe. Previously she was the communications director at the New Mexico Department of Health. She can be reached at\u00a0dbusemeyer@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Jeff Byrd says his Christian faith has carried him through difficult times and will influence how he votes if he\u2019s elected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2777,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[156,230,177,116],"class_list":["post-41643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2012-election","tag-3rd-congressional-district-race","tag-religion","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41643","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\/2777"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}