KRWG Public Media's election 2026 coverage continues with conversations with Deb Haaland, the Democratic candidate for New Mexico governor, and Gregg Hull, the Republican candidate.

Our goal is to cover the same general topic areas with each candidate, but allow for individual follow up questions related to the candidate's own unique platforms.

We'll limit answers to around two minutes so we can cover as many important issues as possible.

We'll begin with former Interior Secretary and New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland.

Thank you so much for taking time out of what I know is a very busy schedule to be here.

Thank you.

Happy to be here.

We appreciate it.

Let's get started with the children, youth and families Department.

Reform of this embattled department has been at the top of the list for each candidate, including some who have said it should be dismantled altogether, which, of course, may leave children and families in limbo.

What is your plan for reforming the children, Youth and Families Department?

Absolutely.

Well, first of all, we'll need to immediately hire qualified, experienced, compassionate, secretary of CYFD.

We also need to go all out and hire, professionals.

We need more social workers.

We need professional behavioral, behavioral health, people to, to join the staff there.

And we need to just ensure that, we can boost the morale of the existing staff that are there.

I know what that's like.

When I went, when I became the secretary of the interior, I spent years, really working hard to boost the morale of the 70,000, career staff that I had.

morale is an important issue.

and, and so is ensuring that we have, a staff that can that can handle all of the work, that is coming in.

We need to also, you know, recruit more foster parents.

we can't have any more kids sleeping in offices.

We need to make sure that they're safe and cared for.

All right.

Thank you very much.

According to the governor's office, the state is projected to spend over $600 million for universal child care next fiscal year.

What challenges do you see in current capacity, from budget to infrastructure to qualified child care workers, and how will you work to overcome those challenges?

Absolutely.

Well, I am so grateful for universal child care.

I think it's going to make a huge difference for so many families across New Mexico.

I was able to visit a community school in Albuquerque several weeks back.

the boys and girls Club of New Mexico, using universal child care funds to have an after school program where the bell rings and kids go straight to the program after school and they're cared for there until their parents pick them up after work.

it's it's it's a great program.

If I would have had universal child care when I was raising my own child as a single mom, it would have made a huge difference for me.

But yes, we need to make sure that it continues to be funded in the proper ways.

And look, this is an economy builder.

I want to, enhance the opportunity scholarship so that, more folks who maybe want to change careers, midway can go back to school, get their certifications.

We want to help small businesses that are working to, to have, childcare centers, you know, to help folks in their neighborhoods.

These are all things that we can work on.

And I just want to make sure that the funding is there.

I think universal childcare is excellent for our economy.

It's good for our kids.

It helps parents to be able to, work without worrying.

And, and that's what we really need to build a strong economy.

Okay.

Thank you.

What factors do you believe are responsible for New Mexico's poor performance in education compared to the rest of the country?

And how has your platform on this issue developed in terms of specific policy initiatives?

So I'll just say that as I've traveled around the state over the last more than a year and a half, I've spoken to lots of parents.

I've spoken to lots of students also.

our kids need to reach sooner.

hopefully sooner than third grade, but definitely by third grade.

Reading is the foundation of their educational journey.

And so early literacy, continuing on early literacy programs that are currently in place now.

But but going beyond to make sure that our all of our kids can read before third grade, will really help us boost those test scores and ensure that our children are on the right path.

we also want to, as far as education goes, bring trades back to our schools in a big way, helping kids to have, career pathways in junior high or middle school and hands on training in high school paid apprenticeships when they graduate from high school.

I just want kids to have the opportunities they deserve.

it all starts with reading.

If you can read, you can do science.

If you can read, you can do math.

So that's, I believe that early literacy is a key to so much of how we can get those test scores up and ensure that we have the best public schools for our kids.

And can I take you back to the beginning of that question?

What factors do you think are responsible for the state's low performance?

Exactly.

Well, of course, I think that, when kids can't read, it children not being able to read early enough I think has has a is a factor in the poor performance.

we also have to think about, we're not completely back since Covid.

during Covid, kids couldn't actually show up to school.

Absenteeism is also a big factor.

We need to make sure that our kids are going back to school.

So, however, we can, offer incentives, you know, help children to be excited about going back to school.

Those are the things that I want to do.

So, they need to go to school.

They need to show up.

They need to have, breakfast in the mornings.

They need to make sure that they are ready to learn with a full belly and, learn to read sooner.

And I think that, we can help ensure that that, that we're doing better.

Okay.

Thank you.

According to New Mexico Voices for children census data over the last few years shows that poverty in New Mexico has dropped at three times the national average rate.

The state's child poverty ranking has improved from 50th to 48th in the nation.

How do you characterize this data and what will your administration do to continue this trend?

Absolutely.

Well, I think poverty is it's such a, it's such a debilitating factor for so many people.

Grateful that, it's trending downward.

you might know that 40% of our population are on use.

Medicaid are on Medicaid, and those numbers are set to change when the Medicaid cuts come in in January.

So I want to be cognizant of the fact that, that can affect how people are able to pay their bills, get their medical care, and stay healthy.

staying healthy, is important for showing up to work and showing up to school.

So, I think we're going to have to, really, work hard to make sure that families have what they need in terms of, safety net so that, they can continue.

we can continue these numbers and, turning them upward.

All right, well, that leads into my next question.

With access to health care in New Mexico, being a growing challenge, especially in rural communities where those federal cuts to Medicaid, may put hospitals at greater risk.

How should the state respond to this growing challenge?

Well, I think the state is already responding.

Thankfully, the legislature and our governor working hard to fill in the gaps that Medicaid is going to create when, the Donald Trump Medicaid cuts come into play on January 1st.

I propose a public option on the, on the insurance marketplace so that folks can choose an option that's affordable.

Currently, a lot of the health, plans have also risen in cost.

I've spoken to people that were paying $500 a month, and now it would cost them $2,000 a month for health insurance if they could afford that.

If we don't have health, if people don't have health insurance, they go to the emergency room.

If they go to the emergency room, it's higher prices for all of us.

So making sure that folks can, access affordable, quality health care in their communities, will ensure that we can have healthier communities, keep health care costs down.

And, in that regard, a public option ensuring that everyone has health insurance would really make a big difference for, so many people in New Mexico, especially the ones that will lose their Medicaid.

According to Private Equity Stakeholder Project.

New Mexico has the highest proportion of private equity owned private hospitals in the nation, with around 40% controlled or backed by private equity.

How has this affected health care access and quality, and how do you believe the state should respond to it, if at all?

absolutely.

private equity, they put their shareholders first, not the patients.

And we really need to, switch that around.

Patients need to come first.

we've heard stories about, you know, doctors only being able to spend 12 minutes apiece with patients because they're being timed and they have to see X number of patients in a day.

This is private equity.

They, they care about the bottom dollar and not about the health of our community.

So, the this of course, the state needs to step up, make sure that people are getting the health care that they need and afford.

As I said, this will be made more difficult by all the Medicaid cuts that will come into play in January.

I understand what that's like.

I've I've had I've been on Medicaid.

I've had to get my health care at the Indian Health Service, many times during my life.

it's difficult when you can't just go and see a doctor when you're sick or see a doctor when you want to stay.

Well.

So, it'll take a concerted effort by the state to ensure that, that these hospitals are living up to their Hippocratic oath and ensuring that they are caring for the patients in the way they should.

Health care is often cited as an option for economic diversity in New Mexico.

What do you believe are the untapped or underdeveloped opportunities that exist to diversify the state's economy and provide better paying jobs?

Absolutely.

Well, I think New Mexico can be the energy capital of the country.

clean energy is a way for us to move forward with that.

We have untapped geothermal, opportunities across the state, and I look forward to ensuring that we can explore that more.

we need to reach our, clean energy goals, zero net zero emissions by 2050.

And I believe we can do that.

We have 300 days of sun.

we have all the wind, and we have, geothermal that we can look to.

we also need to boost up some of our other industries, like the film industry, for example.

It looms large right here in, in Dona Ana County.

And, I think that with the right investments, we can ensure that we can grow that industry.

I want sustainable industry to come to New Mexico.

we're in the midst of a climate crisis, and we need to keep an eye on our water.

Protect our precious natural resource.

but I believe we can, we can find the things that fit with our state.

And move forward.

Well, that leads us to the question of.

I've likened it to a game of whack a mole.

data centers popping up, you know, or, people trying to get data centers under construction and various communities around the state.

And, of course, in Dona Ana County, it's Project Jupiter, which was kind of the first big eye opener, I think, for folks across the state.

It's become a topic that unites both Republicans and Democratic voices alike.

Talk about your plans for regulating data centers and making their origins and impacts more transparent.

Absolutely.

Well, transparency is the is really one of the most important issues.

no community should feel slighted or out of the loop.

if there's, you know, behind closed doors conversations about our economy and about these things moving forward, on day one, I, I will sign, an executive order that places a moratorium on any future data centers until we can get, guardrails, accountability measures, if you will, in place.

We need to protect our precious natural resource of water.

any data center needs to use clean energy to power their, operations.

they need to operate with complete transpo agency, hold community meetings, make sure that the communities are part of those stakeholders that deserve to have a voice.

they need to hire New Mexico workers.

And, they need to make sure that their community investments are robust enough, that it feels like the community is gaining something instead of losing everything.

So, I look forward to having the opportunity to ensure that we are protecting communities.

and and we should we should be doing that.

You've mentioned water a couple of times.

And of course, what's one of the great concerns regarding data centers and other industry?

Do you believe the state has effectively addressed the worsening water crisis, and what do you believe are the best short and long term solutions for the issue?

Sure.

Well, I think that we always need to ensure that we're considering water, that we are planning for the future with water.

You know, when I think about, running for governor and being the next governor of New Mexico, I feel committed to the fact that we need to make decisions today that will affect future generations.

And so they need to be good decisions.

right now, we need to invest in water infrastructure.

there's likely some antiquated infrastructure across the state that really doesn't conserve the water that it should.

we've had all of these rains lately because of El Nino, and it it flooded some areas of New Mexico.

So that tells me that we need to be prepared for any kind of of weather event that comes in.

We're in the midst of of a climate crisis.

And, sometimes we'll have too much water.

Strangely, other times not enough.

So we need to make sure that whatever infrastructure we're we're building will, will, you know, ensure that our, communities can, can weather any of those storms and any of those droughts.

Okay.

Artificial intelligence is a concern for workers in many fields.

How should New Mexico regulate the industry?

To protect workers as well as combat myths and disinformation?

Absolutely.

Well, we absolutely need, regulations for AI.

I, I am, you know, I'm kind of old fashioned.

during law school, I took all I handwrote all my notes and handwrote all my exams.

I didn't get my first cell phone until I was 40.

So I might be a little behind the curve.

But I feel very strongly that this technology, it is moving entirely too fast without guardrails.

So, so New Mexico can be one of the, few first states to put regulations on AI about how it's being used and about how fast it's growing.

we don't need to cover our entire country or our entire state with data centers.

I think it's I think we we have a responsibility not only to our environment, but to to make sure that our children are safe and that we are accurately, ensuring that accurate information is being disseminated to, to any our education, systems, our state, anywhere that AI is used.

I know it has a lot of good things.

doctors are using it to find cures for cancer and other diseases.

those are important uses of AI.

We just need to make sure that, we're we're regulating, how it how it's used, you know, and that can be a challenge.

You had, artificial intelligence CEOs sounding the alarm, and yet the federal government making moves to prevent regulation.

How can the state respond to those federal pressures?

Exactly.

Well, we have a president currently, who who just doesn't care about a lot of the things that he should.

And so, I think that, just, you know, keep keeping a hands off approach to I think that's that's the wrong way to go about things.

and I, I think that if more states, stepped up to provide those regulations that we could make a stand.

Look, governors are the first line of defense against the worst policies coming out of this Trump administration.

I intend to do whatever I can to protect the people of New Mexico.

And that would include, regulations for this, emerging, technology.

Okay.

Recent research showed an increase in lung cancer rates and risk due to radiation escaping from oil and gas activity in the Permian Basin.

What further regulation of that industry, if any, do you believe is needed to protect the health of people who live and work near the industry?

Absolutely.

So when I was, the secretary of the interior, we we funded millions and millions of dollars to states all over the West, for orphaned oil and gas wells.

These are old gas wells where methane is still escaping, where dangerous chemicals are still escaping, and, you know, giving kids, among other things, asthma and so forth.

So, I want to keep making sure that we're clean, cleaning up this legacy pollution.

legacy pollution is all over New Mexico.

And, you know, we have given dearly to the furtherance of our country.

as you know, so many people are working to, submit their applications for compensation because of the, atom bomb, test site on and on Trinity site, as well as other uranium mining around the state.

And so we just need to protect our communities.

I am I will work hard to make sure that the industry, is helping with the cleanup of these things.

I know our, state land commissioner has, increased the royalties.

She's done a lot to help ensure that, the funding is there to, remedy some of these issues within the industry, but I, I am, I care deeply about our environment and our children.

Above all, should be safe from from this pollution.

There is a concern of a resurgence, of uranium mining in New Mexico.

starting on day one of your administration, how will you address that particular industry?

Well, I support the, moratorium on new uranium mines.

I'm from Laguna Pueblo.

As a side of the largest open pit uranium mine for 30 years.

The jackpot mine.

uranium blew around for decades and made people sick.

And people died from it.

I have no intention of of allowing any New Mexicans to live through that again.

when I was secretary of the interior, uranium team was not on the critical minerals list.

We have a president who who wants to mine and drill and extract as much as he possibly can.

And so he pressured to have uranium put back on the critical minerals list.

And, we, we, we actually can find ways of, of moving our country forward and our state forward, without, drilling and mining.

every inch of our state.

So, I don't want, I want to stop people from continuing to get sick from, these dangerous mining operations.

And so I support the land commissioner's, moratorium and hope that, we can continue to put our communities first.

Okay.

Thank you.

Despite some declines in crime overall, New Mexico still ranks number one in property crime and number two in violent crime.

What are your plans for overall public safety and crime reduction?

Absolutely.

Well, first of all, law enforcement should have the tools they need to get violent criminals and illegal drugs off our streets.

I believe that so much of our crime is intertwined with so many other things.

It's intertwined with poverty.

It's intertwined with drug use, substance use disorder.

those are things we we should work together to remedy all of it.

But overall, law enforcement should have the tools they need.

We need to get to the root causes of crime.

And, so I one of the things I would like to do is create an Office of Community Safety that would, put, behavioral health professionals, social workers, on calls, where, where there's issues that aren't criminal in nature.

Law enforcement needs to focus on crime, while behavioral health professionals should focus on.

And other professionals should focus on issues that are not criminal in nature.

helping people, to get the services that they need, perhaps.

So I think there's ways that we can ensure that law enforcement can do their job, but absolutely.

Getting, these illegal drugs off our streets, is imperative.

Let's touch just momentarily on juvenile crime, especially violent juvenile crime involving guns or otherwise.

What do you think is the key to preventing youth crime?

Well, absolutely.

Ensuring that, you cannot get a hold of, firearms that they should not have, that is an issue, getting getting guns out of the hands of people who should not have guns.

that is a that should be a priority, for our law enforcement as well.

but whenever I see a child going down the wrong path, I think there's likely ten adults in that child's life who have failed that child.

and that's why our public education system is so important, to make sure that our children have a healthy start and they can continue down a path where, where they see a future for themselves.

I don't believe that, trying children as adults or in turning children into adult facilities is the answer.

we should we should do everything we can to help those children, to be reformed, to learn, to do, to to to end up having, fruitful lives in the end.

I just, I feel, that we can do more for prevention as well.

when a child has has shot and killed someone.

yes.

We we should have intervened for years and years before.

And so I think prevention is something that we should focus on.

And I believe we can do that, in so many ways, including ensuring that we have behavioral health professionals that our public schools that that children can reach sooner, that they know they have opportunities, for their future.

All right.

Thank you.

Tax policy has become a top issue in this campaign.

What changes to New Mexico's tax policy, whether personal income, property or otherwise, do you believe should be reformed, if any?

And how do you plan to do it exactly?

Well, I think we can enhance the child tax credit and the working families tax Credit to start.

That'll help, working families to have more money in their pockets, when they file their taxes.

I also, believe very strongly that, you know, we've heard a lot from doctors and medical professionals about the GST on medical services.

we've had ideas proposed to us, forgoing the states portion of JRT with these particular, areas, of of tax and, you know, helping, doctors to have more money in their pockets or more money in their clinics so they can go on to serve, more people.

But I, I feel that, those are a good start to some tax policy.

And, we'll just work hard to make sure that that we can have more of a balanced system.

All right, well, we're just about out of time.

We've got about a minute left for you to just add anything that you want voters to know about you or your campaign.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

well, I started my campaign about a year and a half ago.

I care deeply about our state.

I am the only candidate with the experience of leading one of the largest departments in the federal government.

the Department of the interior.

70,000 workers and $18 billion annual budget.

I did that for four consecutive years, I passed.

I was able to get five bills passed and signed into law when I was in Congress.

I know how to work across the aisle and work with people, that want to move New Mexico forward.

So I'm honored to be the Democratic nominee for governor, and I hope that everybody gets out and votes early.

Early voting started on October 6th.

expanded early voting opens up on October 17th.

And then you have until the 31st to vote early and then after that, on Election Day, November 3rd.

But I want everyone to get out and vote.

Exercise your Constitution, right?

Right.

Democratic candidate for New Mexico Governor Deb Haaland, thank you so much for being with us.

Thank you.

So appreciate the time.

And you mentioned those early voting dates that you can, log on to KRWG.org for more voter information.

And joining us now is Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull.

Thank you for being with us.

Thank you.

Appreciate being here.

And as a reminder, we're giving each candidate two minutes to answer questions.

So depending on how much time they take we may have more or fewer questions.

And you ready to begin?

Absolutely.

Well, first reform of the state's embattled children, Youth and Families Department has been identified as a top priority for both candidates.

Some have called for its dismantling, which could leave children and families in limbo currently in the system.

Now, how do you plan to address this issue?

Yeah.

So first off, I think what we need to do is reassemble the children's cabinet, which was created a few, few sessions back.

and it's leaders from all the various different child organizations coming together, to be an oversight to this particular agency.

And I want to use that particular cabinet, along with its, assistance from the office of the Child Advocate, to select an appropriate secretary to actually lead that department forward, one that has got qualifications, has actually dealt in this area before.

We want a qualified individual, not a political appointment.

And when we talk about restrung shoring CFD, I think it needs to absolutely remain under the purview of the governor because the buck has to stop somewhere.

And when it comes to protecting children, that needs to stop at the governor's desk.

So separating it from the governor's office.

I know there's been talk about that.

I think that you can create good oversight through partnerships.

primarily through the office of the Child Advocate and the attorney General's office, who has not had open and transparent access to Cyfd as an organization.

the report that the attorney general's office put out on the performance of Cyfd was very concerning.

A lot of issues in that report.

and but, yeah, so I think we first approach is how do we fix some of the issues that we saw, like, some of the caseworkers being very overburdened.

How do we spread that load out?

How do we rebuild and reconstruct our foster system?

So that way we have foster families that are ready to go.

When we take a child out of a bad situation, they've got a safe place to go, and they're not spending the night in somebody's office.

All right.

Thank you.

According to the governor's office, the state is projected to spend over $600 million on universal child care next fiscal year.

What challenges do you see in current capacity, from budget to infrastructure to qualified child care workers?

And how will you work to overcome those challenges?

Yeah, I see a lot of challenges in the infrastructure.

When the bill was passed, we didn't have near enough daycares.

And, and certainly not the ones that were certified in the state's approach, in my opinion, of taking local permitting away from the local communities so that they could fast track daycare permits.

I think that was, not the correct step.

I think we should be working with our communities to make sure that we know where kids are, what houses they're in, what daycares they're in.

So that way, our fire marshals and first responders know where these kids are.

So I think that's very important.

and as we move forward, looking at who's going to oversight, making sure that these facilities are doing what they're supposed to be doing, that keeping kids safe, providing maybe even some levels of early childhood education.

What are these?

What are these daycares going to do as part of the total overall process?

Right now, my biggest concern with the whole program is looking at it's starting to unfold.

And there's been a lot of talk about this is does the state actually have the budget where we, given the real numbers of what this was going to cost when it was fully deployed?

And right now, some of the LSC reports that we're seeing and some of the people that were originally in on structuring this are now saying there was never enough money here, and this was really rushed.

So what I need, what I think we need to do is really focus on making sure we maintain services for the neediest of individuals, lowest income individuals, making sure that they have the opportunity to take their children to a safe daycare, and have an opportunity to that gives them the opportunity to go to work, go to school and work, you know, to improve their financial situation and then ultimately get their kids into school.

So the long story short, I think there's still a lot of work to be done because this program was pushed down in a very quick manner.

but what we need to do is make sure we structure to where IT services to the most needy.

And but it's sustainable by a state budget.

Just to clarify, does that mean certain people would become ineligible?

Well, I've talked about this pretty publicly that I don't know that people making over 100,000 $200,000 a year should be getting benefits before people making under $40,000 a year, and that's happening in some cases, right now.

So I want to make sure that this is targeted toward kids, you know, young people going to school trying to get a degree, trying to keep a job.

Single mom.

So so is that a yes then?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

So working working on that lower echelon first.

But looking at those higher income levels, that was the way the program was originally designed, was the co-payments on the higher income levels, full service benefits on the lower income.

And I think that we need to look at that.

Okay.

Thank you.

What factors do you believe are responsible for New Mexico's poor performance in education compared to the rest of the country?

And how has your platform on this issue develop in terms of specific policy ideas?

So in terms of specific policy ideas, I think one of the big things that we've seen in New Mexico is a process called social promotion.

Kids are going through kind of a cookie mill process of moving from one grade to the next.

And I've said this as a major portion of my platform is working with our local school districts, number one, to get reading coaches, into our schools where they can work with these kids from K through three, because they've said this over and over again, is that from kindergarten to third grade, kids, learn to read fourth grade on.

They read to learn.

So if we're not getting them to that place by that time, they're struggling through the rest of their their education process.

So on the front end, that would be the first policy step that I would take on this on the back end of that career technical education is a big deal right now, especially when it comes to the getting kids into a skill or trade and helping develop a strong workforce that drives economic opportunity throughout the state, including bringing companies into the state.

So I've seen this as I've worked with this as mayor of Rio Rancho on on these various different fronts with career technical education, seeing what it does to help provide additional resources to the workforce.

Now, getting back to this, the school districts in specific I think we need to step back from a one size fits all approach.

Go into the communities and look at each school district and see exactly what they're struggling with.

It might be reading, it might be math.

It might be, kids that have, severe issues, in behavioral health, it might be, cultural issues for the pueblos, or some of our tribal nations.

New Mexico's a very diverse state.

one size fits all approaches have not fit.

So working with our local districts to develop strategic plans to really meet their needs is something that I'm committed to doing.

All right.

Thank you.

According to New Mexico Voices for children, census data shows that over the last few years, poverty in New Mexico has dropped at three times the national average rate.

The state's child poverty ranking has improved from 50th to 48th.

How do you characterize this data and what will your administration do to continue this trend?

Well, you know, we want to bring people up out of poverty.

And that's the thing is that, well, I'm glad that we've made progress.

there's still a long way to go.

We're a very wealthy state.

We are sitting on the second largest sovereign fund in the country right now, but have some of the highest rates of poverty in the country.

So how do we help the people in the lowest lower income echelons, come up out of that poverty so they can be more self-sufficient and less dependent on, government resources?

So one of the ways that we do that is we create good opportunity in the state.

We improve education in k through three, in K through 12.

You approve that.

So that way we're developing a strong workforce.

And kids are moving from high school into college and getting taking full advantage of the opportunity scholarship.

I'd like to see that expanded into certain medical professions as well.

So that way we can train some kids here in the medical profession and keep them here.

But, all of that being said is that when you think about the poverty rate right now, I what I see is we just don't have the opportunity that a lot of our kids are looking for.

And the kids with the really good educations, we're seeing them leave the state where they're getting a great education at U-n-m or Nmsu or some of the other colleges in the state using the Opportunity scholarship, but then finding those opportunities in some other state.

So we've got to create those opportunities here, get those high paying jobs coming in.

This is something I focused on very heavily as mayor is how we brought opportunity in, and that's how we were able to move the median household income from $53,000 when I took office, up to around 87,000 where it sits today.

So you saw good economic growth, you saw personal wealth increasing, and people had more opportunity.

And we were also, because of that, ranked as one of the most affordable communities to live in, not only in the state but in the southwest.

Access to health care in New Mexico is a growing challenge, especially in rural communities, where federal cuts to Medicaid may put hospitals at greater risk.

How should the state respond to this growing challenge?

Well, I've always said that what the state needs to do is we need to look at our rural hospital systems and make sure that we're funding them.

First and foremost, when, when we see federal cuts or fluctuations in federal budgets and something like this happens, I believe that as a state, we have a duty and responsibility to make sure that we can maintain the programs that we have.

In the absence of funding as mayor, we would apply for grants very, often state grants, federal grants.

And from time to time that money wasn't available.

Or the answer was no, we weren't going to get the money.

So we had to figure out how to move on and move forward without shutting down libraries and senior centers and, you know, or cutting back on our police force.

Those things have to go forward.

I'm at a place where, looking at New Mexico's budget, looking at the obligations we have in the needs that we have.

I believe there is a balance that we can find, to make sure that in the absence of federal dollars, we're able to provide for our own.

But when those federal dollars are available, that gives us the opportunity to really jump forward as opposed to becoming fully dependent on federal resources.

So I'll be looking very closely at our budgets, because I do know when it comes to rural health care, this is a critical issue.

It's probably the number one issue that I've listened to throughout the state of New Mexico as we've traveled around the state.

When you get over to the southeastern portion of the state, people are really going over into Texas for health care.

The big problem there is a lot of their coverage is in New Mexico.

Don't extend into Texas hospitals or Texas, you know, clinics.

So they're not getting the coverage that they need as well.

So this leaves a real gap, a gap that needs to be addressed.

And through some of the budget framing, I will look at how we will make these systems sustainable.

From New Mexico standpoint, through the resources that we have.

And I believe that we have the resources.

Okay.

Thank you.

According to the private equity stakeholder project, new Mexico has the highest proportion of private equity owned private hospitals in the nation, with around 40% controlled or backed by private equity.

How has this affected healthcare access and quality, and how do you believe the state should respond to it all?

So private equity has a place in a partnership, especially when you get into rural communities, because the state can't afford to run every hospital in every community, and they can't afford to run every clinic in every community.

So private equity has its place in bringing in certain services because they're fronting the load, they're fronting the dollars, they're working with the insurance companies, they're taking some of the risk.

So in some cases, I believe that they have played a positive role in building services.

Now, how do we transition those away from, private equity and into state care or just local clinics?

Because really, when you think about private equity, yeah, there's there's several ways you can look at that.

A private investor is private equity, a doctor that's trying to run an independent clinic.

So how do we balance those things?

Because we know we need those services, but the state does not have the resources to bring them all in at once.

I mean, think about the deficiency we have in behavioral health.

Think about the deficiencies that we have, in specialized services throughout the state.

So the state's not going to always be able to pay to bring those in.

And their local communities aren't either.

we wouldn't have us medical center in Rio Rancho or Sandoval Regional Medical Center in Rio Rancho if it hadn't been for a countywide bond.

Not every county has the ability to leverage a bond like that to build a facility like that.

So we're going to have to look at how that partnership works, making sure that they're providing quality care but not denying people inappropriate service inappropriately, services that they need.

And there has to be a balance and a strike to it.

But I don't think that they should be able to take over the whole state.

Okay.

Thank you.

Now, health care is often cited as one option for economic diversity in New Mexico.

What do you believe are the untapped or underdeveloped opportunities to diversify the economy and increase well-paying jobs?

So I think the untapped potential is the kids that we're actually putting through medical school.

Right now.

What I'd like to do is reach out into local communities and find kids in the high schools that are coming up, and they're about ready to go into college, find the the, those students that are interested in going into a medical profession of some sort, whether that's behavioral health, surgical, you name it.

Just any type of medical degree.

Recruit them out of those communities, get them through their opportunity scholarship and put them through medical school.

And if they'll go back into the community that they came from and serve there for 4 to 6 years, the state will eliminate their there any student loan debts or any any school debts that they might be carrying that point in time.

And they'll and those will be made out in payments so that they're not making the payments.

But the state is making the payments, on their behalf as long as they're serving in that community.

So I find this is a strong way to take people out of their communities that are part of the community, get them the education they need, put them back in, and then they're but once again, a part of the community to start building a a legacy of individuals inside of our communities, especially on the rural side.

This is not dissimilar from what's known as the GI Bill.

My uncle went to school on the GI Bill and became a doctor, and he went to medical school and then spent four years in the Air Force serving as a medical doctor.

And when he came out, they paid off all of his medical school bills.

And then he went into private practice and has, you know, been a doctor like that for the rest of his life.

So I think there's a huge opportunity, because if you have additional doctors here and they're keeping that business here and they're spending their money here, and we're creating that legacy that creates economic opportunity, that also circulates, you know, economic value throughout the community as well.

Plus, it builds the resources inside of a community, the when it comes to health care.

And right now that's one of the areas we're lacking.

So let's build that from the inside out, okay.

Data centers have become a topic that unites both Republican and Democratic voters.

Talk about your plans for regulating data centers and making their origins and impacts more transparent.

Yes, absolutely.

Transparency, I think, is what's caused the biggest part of this discussion.

And I've been in economic development my whole time as mayor of Rancho, and I've worked on a lot of various different economic development deals, that have come in, as a matter of fact, one of the biggest economic development deals before Project Jupiter came in was Intel Corporation.

And there's constant renewals to some of the some of the benefits that they receive for the jobs that they create.

Being in the state of New Mexico.

I when it comes to data center specifically, I neither support nor oppose them.

What I have said publicly is I don't support doing a statewide moratorium on any industry.

I believe that we need to as each industry comes in the door and they say, hey, this is who we are.

This is what we'd like to do.

We look at it and say, is this a good fit for New Mexico?

And if it's not a good fit, we always reserve the right to say no.

That is our prerogative.

That is, we have that right right now.

So declaring moratorium sends a message outside the state saying, wow, if they'll do this to one industry, what makes us think that they won't do it to another industry?

And it makes it very difficult to recruit businesses in to the state.

We need more opportunity in the state.

Doesn't necessarily have to be data centers, but we don't want any industry that was thinking about coming here going, wow, we just saw Oracle because of everything that was going on, declare force majeure.

That's a huge thing because of all of the conversation that's been happening, because, you know, Oracle was approved by the governor's office and then went through, you know, the Economic Development Corporation and then through the Don Yana County Commission.

And they felt like it all just swept in there without really telling people what that project was.

So we dial back to the transparency.

Part of this is you have to have open dialog.

You have to have open communication so that, the citizens know what's there.

So first off, that's the first guardrail transparency, making sure you know it's there.

And then beyond that, making sure that they're not going to have a negative impact on our resources or drive up people's power bills.

And when I say resources, I mean water.

Right.

Well, obviously that's one concern, environmental and water use right up there at the top.

So do you believe the state has effectively addressed the worsening water crisis, and what do you believe are the best short and long term solutions?

No, I don't short answer.

I don't think the state has done what it needs to because, we just saw the Rio Grande up in northern New Mexico go completely dry.

And if it hadn't been for the aquifers, in the, in the local communities, we would have been completely out of water.

and so one of the things that I did as mayor is that we work to establish aquifer recharge in the city of Rio Rancho.

So we're putting reuse water, we're cleaning it back to potable quality and then storing it long term back in the aquifer for future use.

you just saw Albuquerque has recently taken this on.

We were the first city in the state to do it.

As governor, I think that we need to be more prepared, for a water crisis like the one that we saw.

Now, granted, we just got a good week or so of good, good deluge.

So we had all of a sudden we had no water, and then we had more water than we needed.

But we really don't have more than we ever need because, you're going to have your ups and downs when it comes to rain and snow and all these other factors that you can't control.

What you can control is how you use that water and how you protect it.

And create sustainable solutions within our communities.

So as governor, one of my processes that I will work on is working with our local communities and their water wastewater treatment facilities, and start adding components to those facilities that allow them to take on aquifer recharge.

That way, they discharge or put water back into the river.

That absolutely has to be delivered down to Texas so that we meet our compacts, and we also deliver any, any additional water that we have in northern New Mexico down to southern New Mexico.

Because from a water standpoint, the new federal compacts that were just approved will reduce southern New Mexico groundwater pumping by 18,000 acre feet.

That means 18,000 acre feet of water rights that have to be retired.

Where is that water going to come from?

Our from our for our agricultural community?

Well, that means we're going to have to look at water more in a symbiotic relationship throughout the state.

And investing in our local communities to make sure that they have sustainable, systems will be critical to moving the whole state forward.

Okay.

Thank you.

Artificial intelligence is a concern for workers in many fields.

How should New Mexico regulate the industry?

To protect workers, as well as combat myths and disinformation?

I this is this is the pressing issue.

If you ask me, when it comes to AI and data centers, AI is the problem.

That and when you hear about these AI agents that are getting escaping their confines and getting out in other areas, you're realizing that AI is figuring out how to defend itself and how to kind of move through systems.

we need legislation that controls the development and growth and proliferation of AI agents and bots.

Because as you're seeing right now, the deepfakes that are coming out online, the misinformation that's happening online, all of that stuff is detrimental to an open and honest conversation.

Number one and number two.

when people see certain things that are fake and they immediately believe it, that tends to invoke some, some emotions that can get out of control at that point in time.

And then we see people lashing out in violence and other ways.

So quite frankly, AI is moving at such a rapid pace to evolving at such a rapid pace.

I don't know honestly how at this point we put the genie back in the bottle.

I don't know how we do that, but we do need guardrails.

We need protections.

We need to enhance cybersecurity systems, and we need to make sure that our communities are protected.

I spoke at a cybersecurity conference not too long ago that, where I explained that our communities, our communities are vastly under resourced to protect their consumer data, which is the citizens data, from these AI attacks in these bot attacks, because you can, the fastest hack on the most secure system in the world right now, I think has been the 24 seconds.

And, I actually have a daughter that's, in the cyber security world, she's what's known as an ethical hacker.

They go in and test systems to figure out how you can get into them and close those doors down.

our communities need to develop systems that help protect citizen data, and but also protect our citizens from these types of cyber attacks.

I could go on all day on AI.

There's so many facets to it.

Well, maybe you can come back another day.

Yes.

Recent research showed an increase in lung cancer rates and risk due to radiation escaping from oil and gas activity in the Permian Basin.

What further regulation of the oil and gas industry, if any, do you believe is needed to protect the health of people who live and work in or near the industry?

Right.

When it comes to people's health and well-being, our first priority is to go in and look at on these radiation systems, what are the protections that we can put in place to protect human life?

Is that personal protective equipment?

Is that, you know, making sure that, air quality is controlled?

I think there's a lot of different variables that we need to look at to make sure that we're protecting not only in the industry, but also the people that work in the industry and live around the industry.

That industry is critical to the financial future of the state of New Mexico.

so working to make sure that we resolve those issues, protect the revenue stream, but also protect people and workforce.

the oil and gas industry is not the only place where you have to put a lot of precautions in for workforce protections.

When you think about industries where you're just out and out working in the some of the construction industry, there's a lot of hazards there.

We always need to look at ways that we can improve industries.

but at the same point in time, protect, human lives and making sure that the workers have the best available protective equipment that they can.

Oil and gas is just one of those industries.

There are many other industries that I can think of where we need to be careful.

We need to watch the regulations, and we need to make sure people have a safe environment to work in.

Right.

Tax policy has become a top issue in this campaign.

So what changes to New Mexico tax policy, whether personal income, property or other types of taxes do you believe should be reformed, if any?

And how do you plan to do it?

Okay, so the big the big one that everybody loves to talk about is GTI, but that one is a very complex tax that, is going to take some time.

And I know because as a mayor we had to deal with this constantly.

Property taxes are a little, a little less complicated, but nonetheless outside of the purview of the state to really stop all property taxes because most property taxes are referendum driven, meaning the voters put them in place.

It wasn't an involuntary tax.

For example, in Rio Rancho, we have a public safety bond.

The voters vote on that every two years, so the state cannot interfere.

Constitution with that contract because the voters put it in place.

So you can't just go in and wipe out property tax, and you just can't go in and wipe out GST.

Well, no guard needs to be reformed.

The tax that I believe that we are well prepared for, to go ahead and start putting back in the pockets of the citizens of New Mexico, is personal income tax.

It's one of the lowest generators of revenue for the state.

It's about 16% of the total overall state budget right now, between 2 and $2.5 billion against $12 billion budget.

And, I have proposed a plan that would phase it out, starting with the lowest incomes first.

And my plan is online on my website.

And, it's a 60 page document.

It starts with incomes, $25,000 for individual filers, $50,000 for joint filers, and eliminates that first.

And that's actually the easiest one to eliminate, because that one generates the least amount of money for the state.

And then the next step, the next phase, which would be in a year, maybe two.

the reason I say maybe two is because my plan has safety stops, that if the state's revenues aren't where they need to be to make sure that we're supporting all existing services, maintaining 105% in revenue growth, plus maintaining 25% reserves in our reserve balance, then you stop that plan for a year, and then you wait another year, and then okay, then we if we can afford to remove that band, the most expensive band to remove would be the top, income earners.

Because right now, in New Mexico, 16% of of all filers are in that top income bracket.

All right.

Well, with just a little bit of time we have left, I'd like to give you the opportunity to just add anything else.

with the last minute or so, that you think is important for voters to know about you or your campaign?

Well, yeah.

Thank you.

is that what's the most important thing for people to do?

And I think everybody I agree with this.

It's just go vote, you know, I mean, that's the thing we need to get out and vote.

There are a lot of important issues on this ballot.

you've got bond issues on this ballot.

You've got local candidates on this ballot, you've got five statewide offices on the ballot.

You've got, you've got the, a Senate race on the ballot.

you've got a congressional race, a House of Representatives race on the ballot.

And, you've got, statewide constitutional amendments on the ballot.

So I think that this is critical that people download from the Secretary of State's website a sample ballot, look it over, do your research, and then, get to the polls.

Now, we will have expanded early voting on October 17th.

And of course, Election day is November 3rd.

And check your dates on when you need to order your mail in ballot by.

If you're going to order an absentee ballot, there is a cutoff date for ordering that.

So check all of those details at the Secretary of State's website.

But my number one thing to encourage people to do is, go out and vote.

And if you'd like to know more about my plan, is that please go to my website, Greg hall.com.

Greg Wltx.com.

And, you can find that, that, income tax plan right there.

You can download it.

And if you have any questions on that, you can certainly email us through the website as well.

But I'm going to say the most important thing right now is learn what's on the ballot and go vote.

Republican candidate Gregg Hull.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Thank you.

You took some of my last lines there for, oh, I'm sorry, voting, extended early voting and Election day.

But I'll tell you what.

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