Make it six: Ernest Chavez steps down as NM state rep

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog

SANTA FE  – The New Mexico legislative session has been over for just four days but on Monday, Rep. Ernest Chavez, D-Albuquerque, became the sixth member of the House of Representatives to announce he will not be running for re-election.

“Ya es tiempo, it’s time to move on,” Chavez said in a news release put out by House Democrats Monday afternoon.

The 77-year-old Chavez missed the entire 30-day legislative session, reportedly recovering from the effects from being bitten by a recluse spider. Chavez did not address why he missed the session in the news release but said, “Being a Representative requires so much time and energy.  I tried to do as much as I could during my recent illness, but the healing process is much slower because of my age.  I feel the best thing I can do for my constituents is to step aside.”

Chavez has represented southwest Albuquerque for 10 years and has easily won re-election in the last three elections, gathering as much as 71.8 percent of the vote in the 2012 race.

District 12 is 80.5 percent Hispanic and Democrats perform twice as well as Republicans there so it’s considered a very safe seats for Democrats, who hold a 37-33 advantage in the House.

Other state reps who have announced they won’t run for re-election this year are:

Anna Crook, R-Clovis

Tom Taylor, R-Farmington

Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque

Henry “Kiki” Saavedra, D-Albuquerque

Nate Cote, D-Organ

Contact Rob Nikolewski at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @robnikolewski