Espanola City Elections:  Are the Winds of Change Blowing?

While city elections are officially non-partisan affairs in NM, partisan elements can be seen in the lineup of candidates for Mayor and City Council elections to be held in the Spring.  Espanola Mayor Javier Sanchez, a Republican, is running for re-election against a challenge from Juan Ramon Vigil, a Democrat currently serving as City Councilor from District 2.  Vigil lists himself as a real estate broker, and has the distinction of being the youngest person ever elected to the city council, at the age of 22.  He is also a member of the Salazar family, one of the tradional ruling families of the past few generations.  

Sanchez has impeccable academic credentials, having graduated from Yale with a BA and then an MBA.  He is openly gay.  His election four years ago as mayor suggested voters were not happy with politics as usual in Espanola, and might be willing to entertain alternative visions for governing the region.  To some extent, this election, as well as the other city races, will be viewed as a referendum on Sanchez's success in governing an Espanola that has been heavily Democrat in voting patterns since the 1960s.

Other partisan notes:  Two city councilors, John Ricci and Justin Salazar- Torrez, switched party from Democrat to Republican, after having been elected to the city council in 2018 while they were Democrats.  One of them, Salazar-Torrez, also ran in 2020 as a Republican candidate for NM House District 40.  He was defeated in the general election by Democrat and LGBTQ candidate Roger Montoya, a professional dancer from Velarde with deep family roots in rural Northern (Hispano) New Mexico.  A technician at the Los Alamos Labs, and also funeral director,  Salazar-Torrez is running unopposed in District 4, as is incumbent Denise D. Benavides, in District.  Benavides is Affordable Housing administrator for Santa Fe County.

John Ricci, a businessman raised in Sonoma County, Calfornia, has lived in Espanola since 1993.  His wife is from the Espanola Valley.  He is opposed by Aaron J. Salazar, a Democrat, listed as Operations Supervisor for New Mexico Gas.

In the seat being vacated by Juan Ramon Vigil,  Nanette Smith Rodriguez is opposing Richard R. Martinez for District 2.  Smith Rodriguez has extensive experience as an Espanola city employee and is currently Division Director for Las Cumbres Community Services.  Richard R. Martinez is currently a superintendent at the Los Alamos labs, and has experience as a coach and teacher, and served in the NM National Guard.

Among the questions these elections will help answer, is whether Espanola is moving toward a more competitive two-party system.