A second candidate has announced she will run for the Santa Fe County Commission’s District 2 seat being vacated by Democrat Anna Hansen.
Lisa Cacari Stone, 58, will face attorney Scott Fuqua, 48, in the June 4 Democratic primary for a four-year term representing an area that stretches west from Santa Fe, including Agua Fría. Hansen, who is term-limited and cannot run for a third term, is running for state Senate instead.
Cacari Stone, a longtime resident of Las Acequias, wrote in a news release her 35-year career as a public servant was motivated by her Mexican American roots in rural America and her working class background in the farming, railroad and service industries.
She is a professor of health and social policy at the University of New Mexico, where she directs the university's TREE Center, a national research center that works on behavioral health issues. Her prior experience includes working as a licensed behavioral health provider, executive director of a rural mental health center and medical care administrator for the New Mexico Department of Health, the release says. She also has experience as a policy analyst for the state Legislature and as a fellow for former Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy, D-Mass.
The news release announcing Cacari Stone’s candidacy called her a “trailblazer and change agent." It notes she is a “first-generation college-educated Chicana” and she and her partner Roberta Duran were among the first same-sex couples legally married in New Mexico. The release says Cacari Stone will work to make sure “all District 2 residents have sustainable water, affordable housing, jobs, justice and access to health care and behavioral health prevention and treatment."
No Republicans have announced intentions to run for the commission in heavily Democratic Santa Fe County. Three Democrats have announced they intend to run for the District 4 seat being vacated by term-limited Democrat Anna Hamilton. Commission Chairman Hank Hughes, also a Democrat who represents District 5, has said he will run for reelection.
