ANOTHER BITES THE ROUNDHOUSE DUST: State Rep. Jim White, R-Albuquerque, is the 10th member of the NM House of Representatives to announce his retirement.
By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE – We’re at 10 … and we still may not be done.
State Rep. Jim White, R-Albuquerque, has made it official. He’ll join nine other members of the New Mexico House of Representatives who will not run for re-election this year.
“I’m getting older, and this is a campaign year,” White told the Albuquerque Journal. “Campaigns are strenuous and expensive.”
White says he’ll endorse Albuquerque attorney Jim Dines as his successor in District 20, which is located in the eastern part of the city and has historically remained in Republican hands.
According to the most recent numbers, Republicans outperform Democrats 55 percent to 44 percent in District 20 but the voter registration numbers are very close — 40.8 percent Republican, 39.0 percent Democrat and 17.1 registered as Decline To State.
White, who says he will serve on interim committees until his term is up at the end of 2014, has held the seat since 2009 and ran unopposed in the last two elections.
With White’s announcement, five Republicans and five Democrats have announced they are retiring from politics. That represents one-seventh of the 70-member House.
There are rumblings that one other House Republican will step down. There’s also been speculation that Democrat Phillip Archuleta of Las Cruces, who missed the entire 30-day legislative session this year while recovering from a broken hip and femur, may retire too.
Here’s the list of the 10 House members who are stepping down at the end of this year:
Jim White, R-Albuquerque
Don Bratton, R-Hobbs
Edward Sandoval, D-Albuquerque
Ernest Chavez, D-Albuquerque
Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque
Henry “Kiki” Saavedra, D-Albuquerque
Anna Crook, R-Clovis
Tom Taylor, R-Farmington
Bill Gray, R-Artesia
Nate Cote, D-Organ
Contact Rob Nikolewski at rnikolewski@watchdog.org and follow him on Twitter @robnikolewski