The nation’s second largest producer of crude oil, New Mexico needs stronger policies to protect communities from the oil and gas industry and to transition to clean energy.  A major climate bill that would have codified the governor’s net-zero by 2050 goals was recently defeated by four votes in the State Senate. This year, more climate champs are running in the democratic primaries to build a stronger climate caucus that could pass major legislation, but oil & gas industry PACs are planning to spend big to elect their allies. These are the champs we are backing in the primaries::

• Yolanda Jaramillo for House District 41: Jaramillo is a lifelong educator, environmental leader, and advocate for Northern New Mexico’s land, water, and families. She’s built a career in education as a teacher in districts across New Mexico and Texas, and helped found New Mexico’s first youth suicide prevention program. She has worked with farms across the region to maintain community-operated irrigation systems called acequias that more responsibly conserve water. If elected, she’ll fight to protect land and water from overuse, drilling, and outside interests that threaten New Mexicans’ way of life.
• Lori Martinez for House District 37: Martinez has spent nearly a decade, and is currently Executive Director at Ngage New Mexico which works to improve educational outcomes in Doña Ana County. After the data center Project Jupiter was proposed in her community, she’s running to ensure the state protects its public lands and resources and fights back against data centers. 
• Anita Gonzales for House District 70: Gonzales is the Deputy Director for New Mexico MESA where she’s worked to prepare students in STEM education from rural and small town communities. The Hermit Peak Fire, the largest and most destructive wildfire in NM was in her district and inspired Gonzales to run and fight for NM to invest in clean energy, climate mitigation plans, and public lands protection.
• Michelle Paulene Abeyta for House District 69: Abeyta is an incumbent legislator, member of the Navajo Nation, and former member of the To’hajiilee Community School Board of Education. Her district has been a site of major resource extraction, environmental injustice, and significant pollution – and, if reelected, she’ll continue to fight for environmental remediation and climate justice.
• Patricia Caballero for House District 13: Caballero is a longtime legislator and activist who has dedicated her whole career to advancing the Hispanic/Latino community as a union organizer, state representative, and advocate.
• Eleanor Chavez for House District 26: Chavez has been a tireless climate champion in New Mexico’s House of Representatives where she voted against tax breaks for oil and gas companies, promoted the development of wind and solar, and helped protect the state’s water, land, and air.
• Angelica Rubio for House District 35: Rubio has a career of organizing across southern New Mexico: leading coalition efforts on local and state-wide initiatives around worker-centered policies, recruiting progressive women to run for office, and managing political campaigns–including her very own! She’s helped lead the charge for a just transition off fossil fuels since her election to the state legislature!