Incumbent State Representative Micaela Lara Cadena and challenger Ramona Martinez joined Peter Goodman and Jamie Bronstein for a House District 33 Democratic primary forum. Martinez, an attorney with a background in state government and criminal defense, focused on infrastructure, health care access, and public safety. Cadena highlighted her capital outlay work in the district's historical communities and her role in redirecting the state gas tax toward road repair. Project Jupiter dominated the second half — both candidates said they would support returning the project to Energy Transition Act requirements, and Cadena linked the fast-tracking of the gas pipeline to Project Jupiter's role in the Trump administration's Stargate AI initiative. The segment closed with a sharp exchange over oil and gas funding and independent expenditures by a Jupiter lobbyist.
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NMSU President Valerio Ferme joined Peter Goodman and Jamie Bronstein for a conversation covering his first year and a half leading the university. Ferme described his strategic focus on improving graduation rates as both an ethical obligation to students and a financial necessity, since tuition revenue from retained students helps fund research and public service. The conversation touched on faculty retention and salary challenges, the decline in international student enrollment in the current political climate, and NMSU's relatively limited engagement with Project Jupiter despite the university's water and engineering expertise. Ferme also spoke about the value of the arts at a land grant institution and the possibility of consolidating NMSU's scattered arts departments into a single school. He closed by noting that one of the biggest adjustments from his previous positions has been the sheer amount of time New Mexico university presidents must spend engaging the state legislature in Santa Fe.
Peter Goodman and Jamie Bronstein opened the show with a discussion of the Supreme Court's ruling effectively ending federal Voting Rights Act protections, and what it means for redistricting — including Texas, where roughly 40-45% of voters are Democratic but about 80% of congressional seats are Republican. Peter then raised a significant legal question about the county assessor's race: whether Shannon Reynolds, who resigned near the end of his second term on the County Commission, is legally eligible to serve as assessor under a New Mexico Supreme Court precedent from 1984. The conversation also touched on the backgrounds of the three assessor candidates and the mixed assessments Peter has heard of incumbent Eugenia Montoya Ortega's tenure. The segment closed with an unexpected live call from Montoya Ortega herself, who pushed back on criticism of her performance and invited her detractors to face her publicly.
Republican candidates for Doña Ana County Sheriff joined Speak Up Las Cruces for a forum on leadership, transparency, public safety, and the future direction of the sheriff’s department. Candidates discussed their backgrounds in local, state, military, and federal law enforcement while outlining different approaches to accountability, officer wellness, recruitment, training, and community trust.
Democratic candidates for Doña Ana County Sheriff joined Speak Up Las Cruces for a forum on public safety, leadership, transparency, and the future of the sheriff’s department. Candidates discussed their professional backgrounds in local, state, federal, and military law enforcement, along with differing views on the performance of the current administration and the relationship between the sheriff’s office and county government.
The primary elections, the "disastrous" state of the transfer portal in collegiate athletics, and traffic etiquette at local intersections were among the key topics discussed by Peter Goodman and Walt Rubel in the opening segment of Speak Up Las Cruces.
Incumbent County Assessor Eugenia "Gina" Montoya Ortega and challenger Shannon Reynolds joined Walt Rubel and Nancy Baker for a candidate forum on the Doña Ana County Assessor Democratic primary. Montoya Ortega, who is seeking a second term, described her work to correct long-standing inequities in how properties are valued across the county and her ongoing effort to complete a countywide reappraisal project - a statutory obligation she said has been complicated by staffing shortages and friction with the County Commission over funding. Reynolds, a former County Commissioner who resigned to qualify for this race, argued the assessor's office could play a broader role in addressing affordable housing and business recruitment through tax assessment policy, and proposed phased increases for commercial property reassessments similar to the 3% cap that protects residential homeowners. Montoya Ortega pushed back, arguing that commercial property assessment operates very differently from residential and that a cap on commercial values would hurt the state's tax base. (Rubén Reyes, a third candidate, will appear on a future episode.)
Mariel Nanasi of New Energy Economy and rate case expert Rocky Bacchus joined Walt Rubel and Nancy Baker to discuss El Paso Electric's proposed 73% rate increase, which could push average residential bills from around $240 to over $400 a month this summer. Bacchus, who has been involved in previous El Paso Electric rate cases, argued that many of the utility's capital expenditures are unjustified and that professional expert testimony before the Public Regulation Commission is urgently needed. The conversation also touched on Project Jupiter's switch from gas turbines to Bloom Energy fuel cells, which both guests acknowledged as an improvement driven by public pressure but still falling short of a fully renewable solar-and-battery solution. Both called on the city, county, and state legislature to take a more active role in ratepayer advocacy, including creating a PACE zone to help homeowners go solar.
Angela Rowe Garcia and Daisy Maldonado joined Walt Rubel and Nancy Baker for a candidate forum on the Doña Ana County Commission District 1 Democratic primary. Rowe Garcia, CEO of the Toy Box Early Learning Centers, emphasized economic development, small business support, and youth safety, drawing on her decade of advocacy in early childhood education. Maldonado, a community organizer with experience working in colonia communities, focused on economic mobility, creating a county economic development strategy, and strengthening the relationship between county government and state agencies. Both candidates addressed Project Jupiter, expressing concerns about accountability and the county's track record with private entities, and both weighed in on Memorial Medical Center's breach of its indigent care contract, calling for stronger enforcement and oversight. The winner of the June 2 primary will face Republican Samantha Barncastle Salopek in the general election.
Walt Rubel and Nancy Baker opened the show with thanks to listeners who supported KTAL during the Community Foundation's Giving Day before turning to a packed news discussion. They extensively criticized the Justice Department’s second indictment of James Comey, labeling it a dangerous weaponization of law against political rivals. The discussion broadened to include the longest government shutdown in history, high gas prices fueled by the Iran war, and the FCC’s expedited license review for ABC following a Jimmy Kimmel joke. Locally, the hosts examined the gubernatorial primary between Deb Haaland and Sam Bregman, and the New Mexico Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate Rebecca Dow to the ballot. Finally, they addressed the challenge voters face in choosing among judicial candidates who are ethically constrained from discussing their positions.
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