A southeast New Mexico lawmaker on Jan. 15 became the latest Republican to launch a bid for lieutenant governor.
Sen. David Gallegos (R-41) of Eunice announced his campaign in an early morning Facebook post on Thursday. He said he is running to succeed term-limited Democratic Lt. Gov. Howie Morales because New Mexico needs “serious leadership.”
“New Mexico cannot afford more symbolic leadership. We need people in office who understand how to govern, how to work with a President Trump administration to secure our border and get the economy moving again, and how to build the coalitions necessary to actually get things done. The Lieutenant Governor cannot just give speeches — the Lieutenant Governor has to help run a state,” the post stated.
In New Mexico, the lieutenant governor serves as acting governor when needed, presides over the Senate when the Legislature is in session and is a member of eight state boards and committees.
In an interview with El Rito Media, Gallegos, 65, confirmed that he had filed the necessary campaign paperwork Monday with the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office. However, as of Thursday morning, his candidate campaign committee registration was still not posted on the Secretary of State’s website.
Gallegos said that on the campaign trail and as lieutenant governor, he would work to strengthen the state’s oil and gas industries, bring attention to rural New Mexico and advance a conservative policy agenda.
“In reality, we need someone that is steadfast and understands rural New Mexico and the southeast, and we’ll then do everything we can for the whole state,” he said.
Gallegos has represented portions of Eddy and Lea counties in the Senate since 2021. He sits on the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee, Senate Rules Committee and Senate Ethics Committee. As Senate Republican Caucus Chair, he holds the third-highest-ranking leadership position in that chamber.
He previously held the District 61 seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives, from 2013 to 2020, representing Lea County. That seat is currently held by Rep. Randall Pettigrew, a Republican. Gallegos has also been on the Eunice School Board since 1999.
Currently, Gallegos is a senior superintendent with Ramirez & Sons Inc., a Hobbs-based general contractor. From 1979 until 2010, Gallegos worked for the New Mexico Gas Company, where he began as a laborer and eventually rose to a supervisor position in Lea County. Gallegos also has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of the Southwest in Hobbs.
With his announcement, Gallegos became the third Republican to enter the race to be his party’s nominee. Manuel Lardizabal of Albuquerque, who ran unsuccessfully in 2020 for the District 26 New Mexico Senate seat, filed paperwork last year for a campaign for lieutenant governor. Aubrey Blair Dunn, an Albuquerque attorney who was the Libertarian Party nominee for New Mexico attorney general in 2018, wrote in a Facebook post Monday that he is also running as a Republican for the position.
Three Democrats are also vying for their party’s nomination: New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Sen. Harold Pope (D-23) of Albuquerque and Jackie Onsurez, the mayor pro tem on the Loving village Council. New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard also launched a campaign, but later withdrew due to her husband’s health.
Legislative Reporter Alex Ross can be followed on the social media platform X @alexrosstweets.