Less than a day after Sen. Nancy Rodriguez announced she won’t seek reelection to her Santa Fe-area seat in the Legislature, two well-known local politicians are jumping into the Democratic primary in District 24.
Linda Trujillo, a former representative, local school board member and head of the state’s Licensing and Regulation Department, said early Thursday morning she is running. Later that day, Santa Fe County Commissioner Anna Hansen said she also is in the race.
Rodriguez, who had served in the Senate since 1996, will serve through the end of the year, with the winner of November’s election taking her spot in the Senate. No Republican has yet announced a campaign, but the Democratic field — which is by no means set — should be interesting as the June 4 primary approaches.
Trujillo said she had never considered running against the entrenched Rodriguez, “but with the opportunity of her deciding to retire and take some time with her family, I’m in that perfect spot.”
“I have plenty of service to give back to the community,” she added.
Hansen, who is term-limited on the County Commission, said she believes her nearly eight years of service in that post has given her insight into issues facing Santa Fe County residents.
“I’m in it to win,” she said, adding she has a background of “working for government and how important it is to understand issues like surface water rules.”
Both candidates said they are filing paperwork for their candidacy, setting up bank accounts for campaign contributions and working to collect the 150 signatures of registered Democrats they will need to be eligible to run in the primary.
Trujillo, 64, served in the House for two terms, from 2017-20. Before that, she was a member of the Santa Fe Board of Education from 201-17.
Trujillo also served as superintendent of the state Regulation and Licensing Department from 2021-23. The agency oversees the Cannabis Control Division, which has had a key role since the state legalized recreational marijuana two years ago.
A lawyer by profession, Trujillo held other state government jobs before she was elected to the House.
Hansen, 75, started a design and consulting business in the 1980s and served as director of Community Building and Development for Oshara Village near Santa Fe Community College. She also helped start Green Fire Times, a monthly journal focusing on the environment and sustainability.
Both candidates said if elected they will continue Rodriguez’s focus on creating affordable housing for residents in a state where prices of homes and rents have skyrocketed.
Trujillo said she would push for support for early childhood and public education programs and digitizing state government agencies, with an emphasis on providing cybersecurity measures.
Hansen said water issues, capital outlay reform and funding for sewers — “I know that doesn’t sound sexy,” she said — would be among her priorities.
Meanwhile, Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, who lives in Rodriguez’s district, said Wednesday she is considering running for the seat but said she wanted time to discuss it with her family.
Santa Fe City Councilor Jaime Cassutt, who recently won reelection, said she is not considering a run for any state seat at this point.
“When I saw the article she [Rodriguez] was retiring, I knew my phone was going to have a busy day today — and it has,” she said with a laugh.
Cassutt, who lives in Rodriguez’s district, added while she would consider a run for a state seat, she intends to finish out her four-year term as councilor.
Candidates for any state legislative seat must file their intent to run with the state Secretary of State’s Office by March 12.
Trujillo, who had two Democratic contenders for her House seat in the 2016 primary election, said she does not have “a problem with competition” for the District 24 seat.
“Competition brings out good ideas,” she said. “Even when I ran for state representative [in 2016], it was nice I could compare myself to others, but when the voting was done and I was moving on to the House, I was able to take ideas that other people had brought forward during the campaign ... and blend those in.”
Whether any Republicans will run in what is a heavily Democratic area of the state is unclear. Ash Soular, spokeswoman for the state Republican Party, wrote in an email the GOP is “looking to have a candidate run in every House and Senate race. We will not have anyone confirmed until after March 12th, which is the filing date.”
