Three Democrats face off in County Commission District 2 race

Apr. 30—A public health expert, an attorney and a former Santa Fe County assessor cite very different reasons for vying for the District 2 County Commission seat in June's Democratic primary.

Lisa Cacari Stone, 58, a University of New Mexico professor from a working-class background, says she would bring a fresh perspective to the five-member commission.

Cacari Stone, who called herself a mestiza, also believes she would well represent the diverse array of people in District 2, an area of the county that stretches west from Santa Fe, including Agua Fría village.

"My core value is that people matter and policy matters," she said. "When we invest in the health of our communities, we're investing in our future."

Cacari Stone had far outraised her opponents in the first round of campaign finance reporting, with $13,606 in contributions in early April compared to Benito Martinez Jr.'s $600 from two contributors and Scott Fuqua's $100 contribution from himself.

Fuqua, a 48-year-old attorney who ran for district attorney in 2020, said he has been "looking for the opportunity to enter public service," and he believes county commissioners have an important job he could do well.

"I'm thoughtful. I don't make snap decisions," he said, adding he would make decisions with ample input from people affected by them.

Martinez, 61, who retired from state government work and served as county assessor from 1996 to 2006, said, "The community has been requesting that I run for years."

Martinez grew up in District 2. "That's important to me, so I listened to the constituency, and I decided I'm going to do this," he said.

The winner of the June 4 Democratic primary will almost certainly assume the seat, being vacated by term-limited Commissioner Anna Hansen, because no Republican is running.

Hansen, who beat one primary challenger for the position in 2016 and was reelected unopposed in 2020, is running for a state Senate seat.

Cacari Stone said her fundraising success reflects she has "given so much to so many communities statewide" during her 35-year career.

Fuqua, who said he "just [doesn't] like" asking people for money, indicated the race for campaign funds might narrow when the next round of reports are filed May 13. He expects to have raised closer to $10,000 by then.

"I'm trying not to measure success in terms of how much money I've raised [but] instead in terms of how many voters I've been able to reach" door to door, he said.

Martinez said the race is "not about money."

He also said he refused public financing for his campaign — which is not an option for County Commission candidates.

"I'm grassroots; I'm knocking on doors," Martinez said.

Originally from rural Illinois, Cacari Stone moved to Santa Fe 35 years ago. She started working at age 12, she said, adding she worked her way through college as a first-generation student, pursued a doctorate in social policy and completed post-doctorate work at Harvard.

Now a professor of health and social policy at UNM, where she directs a national research center focused on behavioral health issues, Cacari Stone previously has worked as a licensed mental health therapist, the director of a senior center and a medical care administrator for the state Department of Health. She also has been a policy analyst for the state Legislature in education and health reform and served as a fellow for former Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy, D-Mass., on a congressional health and education committee, she said.

"I know how our communities suffer, and I've been part of alleviating that suffering," she said. "I bring policy expertise to real life experience."

Cacari Stone's priorities as a commissioner would include preservation of the county's water resources; getting "all hands on deck" to find solutions for affordable housing and homelessness; approving an emergency preparedness plan; and building cooperation between city and county leaders.

Fuqua, who grew up in Portales and has family history in Santa Fe, graduated from the University of Chicago with a law degree in 2001 and moved to Santa Fe in 2007. He spent about eight years as a staff attorney and then director of the litigation division of what was then the Attorney General's Office before opening a solo practice in 2014, he said.

Fuqua's campaign has centered largely on responsible stewardship of the county's water resources in the long term, he said.

"I think the county needs to take a very hard look at increasing" water recycling, he said.

Land use initiatives, such as evaluating opportunities to build affordable housing on county land and requiring developers to build affordable housing, would be another priority, Fuqua added.

Martinez said his family heritage in Santa Fe goes back "centuries," and he has long been involved in the community. Martinez attended college but did not finish a degree before he landed a job in the County Assessor's Office in 1984, he said.

Martinez worked his way "up the ranks" from enumerator to deputy county assessor. He was appointed assessor by county commissioners in 1995 and then won election to two successive terms in the position. He finished his career working in the state Regulation and Licensing Department and State Land Office before retiring, he said.

Martinez's top priorities as a commissioner would include improving public service, health and safety. That means supporting the sheriff's office, preserving county water and developing "better respect towards the public," he said, such as instituting an "open-door policy" for constituents to access county employees.

Martinez was charged late last year with a felony count of causing great bodily harm while driving drunk in a 2021 crash that left a woman with a traumatic brain injury, a fractured pelvis and other broken bones, according to a criminal complaint.

The charges were delayed two years because a criminal complaint police attempted to file against him in November 2021 was not received by the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, according to the 2023 complaint.

Martinez pleaded no contest to a first offense of driving under the influence, a petty misdemeanor, and was sentenced in February to pay restitution and serve one year of probation.

Martinez said he suffered from alcoholism but does not drink anymore.

"I had to expend a substantial amount of financial resources and so on, on defending myself," he said. "So I paid my dues, I learned from it and I'm sober now."

Martinez told The New Mexican in 2010 he had been charged with DWI in the 1980s but failed to disclose the count in a recent candidate questionnaire. When confronted about the omission, Martinez first said he did not know when the older DWI occurred and said he "never appeared before a judge."

He later acknowledged, "I had a DUI back then."