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Jay Block announces candidacy for New Mexico governor

11 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By John Block

On Saturday, Republican Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block announced his candidacy for the governorship of New Mexico in 2022, the first prominent GOP figure in the state to throw their hat in the ring to replace embattled Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who was accused and later settled $62,500 for sexual assault. The announcement was held at the Rio Rancho Veterans Memorial Park.

Block, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force as a nuclear weapons officer in Afghanistan and a two-term county commissioner in Sandoval County, said, “I intend to be a governor that New Mexico can finally be proud of.”

Block was a co-sponsor of a 2018 measure establishing a “right-to-work” law in Sandoval County. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham-signed law was later passed that bans the enforcement of “right-to-work” laws, forcing New Mexicans to pay into labor unions even if they don’t want to.

“We are seeing us being silenced, being canceled. And today, we find ourselves fighting for our freedoms once again. Our way of life is being threatened and encroached upon by our own government, by elected officials that are tasked with representing us,” said Block during his remarks.

“Under the guise of safety, power-hungry politicians have stripped more and more of our rights away and erected laws that benefit their elitist allies while handcuffing hard-working New Mexicans.”

“Yet, Michelle [Lujan Grisham] is proud of where New Mexico stands today. Michelle is proud that New Mexico ranks last in education. Michelle is proud that New Mexico ranks first in child poverty. Michelle is proud that New Mexico ranks first in child hunger. Michelle is proud that New Mexico ranks at or near the bottom when it comes to violent crime, unemployment, and poverty,” said Block.

“These are things not to be proud of. These are things to be ashamed of, and Governor: New Mexico is ashamed of you.” He added, “All we are asking today is we want our freedoms back.”

Regarding Lujan Grisham’s silence on Joe Biden’s anti-energy policies such as canceling the job-rich Keystone XL pipeline, Block said, “The governor lied to all of you. She stayed silent because the governor wanted to go to D.C. to be either vice president or cabinet secretary because she knew she was leaving this state a disaster. And now we are going t hold her accountable.”

Block has a good turnout at the event, with many high-profile names showing up to back his bid for governor, including firebrand state Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Santa Fe) and Rep. Joshua Hernandez (R-Sandoval). Block is the first in the ring on the Republican side for the GOP nomination, however, others may have shown interest. State Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Grant, Hidalgo, and Sierra) has teased the idea, and 2020 candidate for Congress in the Third District, Karen Bedonie is planning an announcement later in April.

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Dem county official blasted for saying people are being shot because of ‘the shape of their face’

During the closing remarks at Thursday’s Sandoval County Commission meeting, first-term Democrat Commissioner Katherine A. Bruch of the First District made eyebrow-raising comments regarding mass shootings, claiming recent uses of guns to kill can be attributed to the “color” of peoples’ skin and “the shape of their face.”

Across the country, the media has been fixated on crimes involving Asian American and Pacific Islanders after a gunman in Atlanta, Georgia shot up multiple massage parlors where he killed eight people, including people of multiple races. It has been surmised that the shootings were tied to sex addiction, not racial hatred.

Bruch said during the meeting, “This has kinda been a hard week in many ways with more mass shootings and even longer than that, with certain communities being assaulted more directly and I know I have some family members that fall into some categories that are more visible for whatever reason and I am just very saddened that we are having these individuals that are—for whatever reason—going out and shooting or assaulting people because of the color of their skin and the shape of their face.”

“So, I just want you all to remember them in your thoughts and prayers, and then let’s get to work and let’s do something more effective than thinking about them by getting serious about helping with mental health, making sure that we provide the correct training and tools for our law enforcement, and that we are regulating the possession of weapons by those who have no business owning them,” she concluded.

Second-term Republican Commissioner Jay Block of the Second District chimed in on the conversation after Bruch’s assessment regarding the need for more gun bans amid shootings. He took exception to her comments regarding face shape because he has children who are interracial.

He said, “I am not sure what the ‘shape of their face’ means. We all have different shapes of faces unless you’re talking about my kids who are interracial. I don’t know. I would maybe change those words a little bit.”

This is just the latest racially questionable comment made by a Democrat politician in recent weeks after Democrat nominee for Congress, state Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-Bernalillo) said that displaced Navajo workers who would be losing their good-paying jobs “can sell their art or their wool” instead, insinuating that Native American workers can somehow shift focus in their job prospects to another field that Stansbury stereotypically decided was arts and crafts.