A lot of college students have fallen under the incorrect assumption that voting no longer matters. After President Trump was elected in the fall of 2016 without garnering the popular vote, I noticed many of my friends feeling disillusioned and refusing to vote in future elections. Now, nearly two years later, an immensely important election is here. The 2018 General Election will set the political tone in the United States for the foreseeable future. Whoever gets these coveted positions will become the foundation of our next president’s support and opposition. In New Mexico, November 6th is election day. Here’s a little bit more information on our governor nominees:
Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)
Grisham is currently holding a lead over Pearce, her primary competition. She is currently serving her third term in Congress and is the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. She has spent most of her professional life advocating for the elderly through both her law practice and her congressional campaigns and promoting education by vying for budget increases for public schools. Her family has been in New Mexico for twelve generations. She has proposed a four-step plan called “Build New Mexico”, to move New Mexico into the twenty-first century and rebuild the economy in parts of the state in which we fall behind. She has ten specific job creation proposals called Jumpstart New Mexico. She has much more planned, which you can read about here: http://www.newmexicansformichelle.com/policy
Steve Pearce (R)
Pearce is a Vietnam War veteran who comes from humble beginnings. His family was made up of sharecroppers, and most of them left to pursue other options in different states. Steve, however, stayed until he was drafted into the military. He has been in Congress for fourteen years, and promotes discussing issues through the bipartisan barrier. He is proud that he can work across party lines, working with President Obama on several pieces of legislature. As all New Mexicans know, this state suffers from some of the worst rampant poverty in the union. Pearce plans on addressing root causes to this and fixing it from the bottom up. He also has a family focus, and like Grisham plans on addressing the opioid epidemic. He wants to support education by improving the broken public school system that New Mexicans have been a part of for decades. You can learn more here: https://pearcefornm.com/issue/families/
Now that you have been educated on the basic policies and backgrounds of those running for our governor position, I urge all New Mexican citizens to go out and vote! Your vote does matter, and if you believe that your singular vote will not accomplish anything, I ask you this: what will you accomplish by taking no action at all? If this is the least you can do, do it. If you are unhappy with the way politics has been for the past few years or want to change your community, the first (and easiest) step is to get out and vote. As a collegiate, I find it pivotal that I use my education to spread political awareness and promote voting within my school. There are many places on campus that are registering students, and they will be here until November 6th. Make your mark, and hit the polls!