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As a freshman lawmaker in 2021, state Rep. Luis Terrazas voted to keep on the books a 1969 law criminalizing abortion. Terrazas, R-Silver City, was on the losing side of the debate.
Majority Democrats and the Legislature's only independent member repealed the old law, just in case federally mandated access to abortion was rescinded. The U.S.
Supreme Court a year later overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that had legalized abortion nationwide. Laws on abortion reverted to a stat-to-state patchwork.
Stands on abortion are important in New Mexico's swing districts, though the issue isn't something every candidate highlights. Terrazas makes no mention of abortion on his campaign website. In an interview, he would only say he and many of his constituents are appalled by the availability of abortion in New Mexico.
"I am shocked myself that we have abortion all the way to the date of birth," Terrazas said. His opponent, Democrat Gabby Begay, lists health care as one of her priorities, especially regarding reproduction. "Abortion rights are a key issue in this race," Begay said in an interview.
"That's a conversation between a woman and her doctor. Government doesn't need to be involved." Terrazas and Begay are competing in House District 39, composed of parts of Grant, Catron and Hidalgo counties.
Based on voting patterns, the district is favorable for Democrats. But Terrazas, 52, has won it twice, both times defeating a dull campaigner in Democrat Rudy Martinez. Begay, 33, is far more energetic and a better orator than Martinez.
She is a first-grade teacher in the Silver Consolidated Schools, and she serves as president of the school board in nearby Cobre. Begay crushed the vice president of the Cobre school board in the Democratic primary for the legislative seat, taking 80% of the vote. She says the general election against Terrazas will be more difficult.
Both candidates grew up in Grant County. Each worked at Albertsons Market before establishing careers. Begay became a teacher.
Terrazas went into business for himself, starting with a car wash. It was successful enough for him to open funeral homes in Santa Clara and Deming. Retail politicking flows from his 25 years in business.
"I have a lot of relationships with people. They trust me," Terrazas said. As an incumbent with almost four years in the statehouse, he has a decided advantage in fundraising.
State records show Terrazas with $124,000 in his campaign treasury — about $100,000 more than Begay. Terrazas has received small contributions from individual donors and large ones from Republican politicians and corporate PACs in the energy sector. They include Chevron, Marathon Oil Co.
, Occidental Petroleum and Jalapeño Corp. In addition to individual donors from her region, Begay's contributors include Planned Parenthood, labor unions and former Democratic state Sen. Lisa Curtis of Albuquerque.
The choice between Terrazas and Begay isn't the only one in which abortion might be a decisive issue. Gabriel Ramos once was a Democrat and the appointed senator in District 28. He voted to retain the law criminalizing abortion, alienating many voters.
Siah Correa Hemphill trounced Ramos in the Democratic primary in 2020. She went on to win the Senate seat in a nail-biting general election. Ramos switched to the Republican Party, and he is again running for the Senate seat.
His odds of winning improved after Correa Hemphill withdrew from the general election, saying she needed to return to the workforce to help support her family. In her place, Democrats have nominated Chris Ponce, a Grant County commissioner. Ponce got a late start in his campaign, but he might not be at a significant disadvantage.
Senate District 28, redrawn after the last national census, is more favorable to a Democrat than when Correa Hemphill won it four years ago. The district includes parts of Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties. Ramos was one of five Democratic senators who supported the old anti-abortion law in 2019 and lost their seats in 2020 primaries.
One of the others, Clemente Sanchez of Acoma, attempted a comeback in this year's primary. Angel Charley routed Sanchez in Senate District 30, which stretches across five counties in the central part of the state. Republicans now hold the District 30 seat, but in a display of ineptitude they failed to field a candidate to retain it this fall.
Charley's victory in the primary assures Democrats of a pickup in a chamber they control 27-15. Anti-abortion Republicans hope to regain a seat in the House of Representatives. They are optimistic about their chances in District 38, represented by freshman Democrat Tara Jaramillo.
She won a close election two years ago after Republican Rep. Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences gave up the seat to run for governor. A weak statewide candidate, Dow had no chance of becoming governor.
But the rural House district is an arena suited to her. Democrats redrew the boundaries to make the district more favorable to their party. Still, Dow knows the territory, which includes parts of Doña Ana, Sierra and Socorro counties.
One plank in Jaramillo's platform is to protect access to safe and legal abortions. That separates her from Dow by 180 degrees. Dow as a House member twice voted to retain the 1969 law criminalizing abortion, even though it was unenforceable because of Roe v.
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