Several communities in Southeastern New Mexico held municipal elections this week. Several years ago, Carlsbad opted in to the provision of the 2018 Local Election Act. This means that we held municipal elections this past November for four of our city council positions. Our next municipal election will be in November of 2023.
All results are taken from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s web page. These results are still unofficial at this time.
In Artesia, County Commissioner Jon Henry held a comfortable lead in a five-person race for mayor. Henry received 609 votes. Jeff Youtsey placed second with 335 votes. Four Artesia City Councilor positions were also up for re-election with Raul Rodriguez, George Mullen, Wade Nelson and Richard Townley all projected to win.
We would like to say a little bit about former Artesia Mayor Raye Miller, who was excellent to work with throughout his term. We met regularly to make sure both communities were up to date on energy issues, health care issues, and community events. Mayor Miller was a very dedicated public servant who did an outstanding job representing his community. Thank you for your service.
Roswell’s mayoral election was one of the most hotly contested events of the evening. Former State Senator Tim Jennings appears to have a slight lead over incumbent Dennis Kintigh, 2,420 to 2,363. This is a very close election – so a follow-up canvas will certainly be important. There were also two other candidates in this election. Roswell City Council winners, according to the Secretary of State Page, were Cristina Arnold, Juliana Halvorson, Edward Heldenbrand and Robert Corn.
The City of Hobbs did not have a mayoral competition this election, but there were four city council elections. Three of these were uncontested. According to the Secretary of State web site, Joseph Calderon defeated Debra Jean Brady, 42-33,
Not in Southeastern New Mexico, but of relevance to Carlsbad, Rio Ranch Mayor Gregory Hull appears to have a solid lead in his bid for re-election. Mayor Hull has been a good friend to Carlsbad in a wide variety of statewide discussions.
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The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association has named Doug Ackerman as its new President and CEO. Doug will taking over from interim president and CEO Leland Gould. Ackerman has 23 years of leadership with the United States Army National Guard and Reserve. Much of his professional experience is tied in with the food system chain. NMOGA plays a very important role in the state in supporting the oil and gas industry. We look forward to working with Doug with this effort.
Congratulations to the Carlsbad Cavegirl softball team- the Cavegirls swept Centennial on Tuesday night in their first home games of the year.
Sincerely, Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway