![\"Amanda](\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Lopez-Askin-Amanda-336x285.jpg\")
Courtesy photo<\/p>
Amanda L\u00f3pez Askin<\/p><\/div>\n
Following a series of failed attempts to find consensus, members of the Do\u00f1a Ana County Board of Commissioners decided on Tuesday to name L\u00f3pez Askin, a Democrat, the next county clerk, just 56 days before the Nov. 6 general election she’s now tasked with overseeing.<\/p>\n
L\u00f3pez Askin replaces Democrat Scott Krahling, who resigned last week<\/a>\u00a0after an internal county investigation<\/a> determined that his “intimate relationship” with an employee over nearly two years violated county policies and\u00a0had a “negative impact” on the office, creating “the perception among some employees of favoritism and preferential treatment.”<\/p>\n A motion to appoint\u00a0L\u00f3pez Askin to the job during Tuesday’s meeting initially failed on a vote of 2-3. After repeat failures to find consensus on several applicants, Commissioner Billy Garrett decided to change his mind and support L\u00f3pez Askin when she pledged to keep Lindsey Bachman as chief deputy clerk. A motion to promote Bachman to be county clerk had also failed on a vote of 2-3.<\/p>\n The successful vote to appoint\u00a0L\u00f3pez Askin was along party lines, with Democrats voting for her and Republicans against.<\/p>\n L\u00f3pez Askin was among those expressing surprise that she landed a job that had drawn 14 applicants<\/a>, including other familiar names in the political realm.<\/p>\n “When I looked at the list of candidates, I definitely saw that there was a wide range of experience and service and education, and I just kind of hoped that I was in the top five,” L\u00f3pez Askin said in an interview. “So I’m pleasantly surprised and really honored.”<\/p>\n She will serve out the remainder of Krahling\u2019s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2020. She will be eligible to run for election to the office in 2020 if she chooses.<\/p>\n L\u00f3pez Askin, 44, is a native of Las Cruces who graduated from O\u00f1ate High School in 1992. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in family and child science, a master\u2019s degree in family and consumer sciences, and a doctorate in educational leadership administration, all from NMSU.<\/p>\n Since June 2005 she\u2019s been a school mental health advocate for the state Department of Health. Her prior career was in mass media, with an emphasis in local radio. And she served as the NMSU student regent, appointed by the Republican Martinez, from 2015-2017.<\/p>\n Notably missing from that list of experience is any time spent working on elections or overseeing other things the clerk’s office is tasked with doing. L\u00f3pez Askin has also never run for office. But she said there aren’t many people who can jump into this job with previous experience working on elections. She said she has “a lot of experience as a voter” and as someone who is “really invested in the process and who really believes in transparency and fair elections.”<\/p>\n L\u00f3pez Askin addressed her lack of elections experience in her application letter<\/a> to the county commission, writing that while “the scope of my work in my current position is different than the County Clerk role, the process of providing expertise, support, and technical assistance to others is the same, and I believe my experience, skill set, and innate enthusiasm would serve the role well.”<\/p>\n Carruthers, a Republican, said he has no doubt L\u00f3pez Askin is up to the task.<\/p>\n “I couldn’t be more pleased with the choice they made, and I think they’re going to find that she will be as absolutely dedicated to the voters as anybody would be,” he said.<\/p>\n