Elections have consequences. Unfortunately, so-called “progressive” Democrats continue to hold a commanding majority in our state’s House of Representatives and Senate. Representation from both sides of the aisle and diversity of thought are pillars of a functioning and balanced government, but our reality in New Mexico is of one-party rule. This stranglehold on our institutions continues to halt progress and miss the mark when it comes to truly addressing our state’s out-of-control crime rate.
Earlier this year, my fellow Senate Republicans collaborated across the aisle with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham during her special legislative session to make strides in addressing public safety. Included were measures to expand criminal competency protocols and increase penalties for felons in possession of firearms, distributing fentanyl, and murdering law enforcement officers. We also introduced proposals to secure our open southern border, an issue New Mexicans and Americans at large support, in order to combat the cartel’s trafficking of drugs, humans, and contraband. An additional measure we introduced would have strengthened our state’s lackluster Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute in order to pursue organized criminal activity more effectively and expand the capabilities of prosecutors, specifically, expanding human trafficking sentencing. This measure, along with several of the aforementioned proposals were created with and supported by District Attorneys and law enforcement leaders from around the state and from both sides of the aisle.
Unfortunately, as we all know, each and every one of these measures never saw the light of day. Progressive Democrat lawmakers killed the Governor’s Special Session focused on public safety, ending the session almost immediately and refusing to hear ANY legislation addressing crime and safety.
I attended this summer’s special legislative session to witness firsthand how our elected officials would address the crime epidemic my family experiences in Albuquerque every day. I was disappointed, to say the least. Make no mistake, as the only Republican Senator from Albuquerque, I will uphold my responsibility to work toward making our community a safer place for families to live and thrive.
These proposed measures are commonsense and practical. They hold criminals accountable, deter criminal activity, and strengthen our law enforcement. The progressive wing of the Democrat party, which has immense influence and power in our state’s legislature, disagrees. They would rather stall these proposals and instead push an entirely different ideological agenda. It was recently announced that Senate Democrats plan to introduce a “crime package” that narrowly focuses on expanding behavioral health programs. This somehow will reduce the level of violence we see every day from juveniles, repeat offenders, and gangs in our state.
While we as Republicans remain optimistic and plan to re-introduce several of these comprehensive solutions, progressive Democrat lawmakers will most likely reject each of these proposals and further miss the mark on addressing our crime crisis. As a result, New Mexico families would continue to suffer from our crime crisis in communities throughout our state.
Elections have consequences. Our communities will not become safer under the continued leadership of radical progressives. We will fight in Santa Fe, but the real fight is on the ground with grassroots organizing in key communities to continue to expand the realignment of the Republican Party in New Mexico.
Nicole Toiassen is the senator-elect for New Mexico’s 21st state Senate District.
The sooner Republicans fighter out we are in a fight to preserve the State the better off we will be. There is no bipartisan nonsense. An Albuquerque businessman was shot dead in broad light at 8:30 AM in his business Thursday. This has to stop!
I would say the so called progressive democrats are cabal/cartel members or want to be. No one in their right mind would stop crime initiatives. It’s so sick that these beings are in office. We have the dominion voting system brought to us by a Republican governor. So party is not so important as whether they are for the people or not. It seems we have criminals in office that need to be removed. The question is how do we remove them all..We are a captured state!
I know it seems like we are fighting a losing battle against the Democrats who seem to prefer criminals over law abiding citizens. All I can say is we need to wake up the dependent class who so willingly vote for the same politicians even though these same politicians are the ones that keep New Mexico at the bottom of every list. If the peoples of our great state continue the way we are headed than we will see our state sink like California has due to the redundancy of one party rule. Contact your elected officials and let them know if they don’t start working to better the lives of those of us that work and produce that they will remember that at the next election cycle and they themselves will become unemployed.
Until we arrest and jail Moochie Loserjan and her cohorts New Mexico will still be full of corruption and unrest!! Crime won’t go away as long as criminals hold office!
Lujan was never happier than when she had herself, her staff, and the entire state of NM in face diapers.