Joshua A. Sanchez
State Senator (R-Valencia & Soccorro)
As many of you may know, I usually like to listen while everyone else is doing all the talking up in Santa Fe. But after what happened at last week’s Special Session, I have to speak up for my community and call it like it is.
There is no other way to put it. Democrat lawmakers have failed us over and over on public safety, and they just did it again. When Senate Republicans heard that the Governor was calling for a Special Session to try and make our state and communities safer, we all came to the table to work on some common sense solutions. We figured the Democrats would also be on board and that we would actually get something done, especially since the Governor was pushing us to work together on this. Every New Mexican knows we have a crime problem, so I really didn’t think there would be any political division like there usually is. But to the disappointment of everyone, Democrat lawmakers last Thursday decided to end the Special Session without hearing any of the public safety bills we introduced. They did this because they can. They didn’t want Republicans like me to be able to talk about fighting crime during this election season. They may have made their point, but we are the ones who will pay the price of having to deal with all the crime and homelessness that is already out of control.
Trust me—and this may be the first time I have ever said this—but I totally agree with the Governor. She called out Democrat lawmakers and said, “The legislature as a body walked away from their most important responsibility: keeping New Mexicans safe. But it is noteworthy that a majority of Republicans would have passed many or all of these bills—they were blocked.” Although her ideas were not perfect, they were a start and a step in the right direction. That’s why we decided to work with her on them and others. My fellow Republican Senators and I introduced proposals to go after fentanyl dealers stop organized crime. The Governor was on board because, again, it isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue. Everyone knows we have to get these drugs off of our streets and out of our kids’ hands. But again, because of the Democrat lawmakers, these bills didn’t even get a committee hearing.
A lot of politicians will tell you that they’re going to fight crime and close the ‘revolving door’ just to get your vote when it’s election season. Unlike them, I let my voting record and my actions do all the talking. I remain committed to working with whoever it takes to get dangerous drugs and violent repeat offenders off our streets, and I will continue to do that as your State Senator. Remember what happened during last week’s Special Session when you go to vote in November. As our Democrat Governor told us, Democrat lawmakers are the problem and they failed us.
