Editor’s note: This story was updated to include the second threat being investigated in Santa Fe. Threats against top Democrats in the New Mexico legislature on Thursday prompted the disruption and evacuation in parts of two Santa Fe neighborhoods, including one nearby school. Chris Nordstrum, communications director for New Mexico Senate Democrats, confirmed to New […]
Author Archives: Alex Ross
Alex Ross is a senior politics and legislative reporter for the New Mexico Political Report. He began his career in daily journalism in Montana and previously worked as a breaking news and politics reporter for the Roswell Daily Record and as the Roswell Bureau Chief for KOB.
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov, New Mexico
New Mexico leaders outraged by Supreme Court’s racial profiling ruling
Members of Congress and the top prosecutor in New Mexico are condemning a U.S. Supreme Court decision that at least temporarily allows immigration officials to stop individuals based on what critics say is racial profiling. The 6-3 decision announced on Monday granted the federal government’s request to pause a lower court ruling that limited when […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov.
Trump orders states to reinstate cash bonds for criminals. Forcing New Mexico to do that isn’t quite that easy.
The growing push by Republicans to roll back limits on when courts can require criminal suspects to pay to get out of jail while awaiting trial could put New Mexico on a collision course with the federal government. On Aug. 25, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Attorney General and White […]
Posted inNM Legislature
GOP blasts governor’s special session priorities
Republicans are unimpressed with the priorities that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-NM, laid out Thursday for an upcoming special legislative session, arguing that it should focus more on addressing crime and medical malpractice reform rather than looming federal budget cuts. Lujan Grisham on Thursday invoked her authority under Article IV of the New Mexico Constitution […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
New Mexico Republicans eyeing governor’s office, but slowly
Three Democrats have already launched their campaigns for governor, but most of the Republicans whose names are in contention are still weighing their options. “I’m seriously looking at it,” state Rep. Mark Murphy, a Republican from Roswell, said Thursday in an interview with New Mexico Political Report. He added that he is talking with family, […]
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New Mexico DOJ challenge to Trump funding freezes helps New Mexico AmeriCorps recover $2 million for local programs
New Mexico’s AmeriCorps programs will see funding restored after the Trump administration declined to pursue a funding freeze challenged by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and other attorneys general. 2 million for AmeriCorps, initially withheld by the Trump administration, after th The New Mexico Department of Justice announced Friday that $2 million initially withheld […]
Posted inTorrance County
Torrance County manager warns of economic ruin if detention facility closes
A potential ban on federal immigrant detention facilities in New Mexico would have a devastating impact on Torrance County, according to a local official. Jordan Barela, the Torrance County manager, told a bipartisan group of state legislators at an Aug. 26 meeting of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, in Las Cruces, that one such […]