Stephanie Garcia Richard

Democratic Party

New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

7

Predecessor:Aubrey Dunn (Libertarian Party)

Prior offices:

New Mexico House of Representatives District 43

Years in office: 2013 - 2018

Successor:Christine Chandler (D)

Compensation

Base salary

$149,714

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

High school

Silver High School

Bachelor's

Columbia University, 1996

Other

California State University, 2006

Personal

Profession

Teacher

Contact

Official website

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Stephanie Garcia Richard (Democratic Party) is theNew Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands. She assumed office on January 1, 2019. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Richard (Democratic Party) ran for election forLieutenant Governor of New Mexico. She will not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary onJune 2, 2026.

Biography

Garcia Richard's earned her B.A. in political science from Barnard College at Columbia University in 1996 and a certificate in teaching from California State University in Los Angeles in 2006. Her professional experience includes working as a teacher.^[1]

Political career

New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands (2019-present)

Garcia Richard was first elected to the land commissioner's office on November 6, 2018, and was sworn into office in January 2019.

Elections

2026

See also: New Mexico gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico

Maggie Toulouse Oliver andHarold Pope Jr. are running in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico on June 2, 2026.

		Candidate
		Maggie Toulouse Oliver
		Harold Pope Jr.

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Stephanie Garcia Richard (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico

Aubrey Dunn,David M. Gallegos, andManuel Lardizabal are running in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico on June 2, 2026.

		Candidate
		Aubrey Dunn
		David M. Gallegos
	Submit photo	Manuel Lardizabal

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
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Endorsements

2022

See also: New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner election, 2022

General election

General election for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

IncumbentStephanie Garcia Richard defeatedJefferson Byrd andLarry E. Marker in the general election for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Garcia Richard (D)	54.7	379,621
		Jefferson Byrd (R)	44.8	310,853
	Submit photo	Larry E. Marker (Independent) (Write-in)	0.6	3,950

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 694,424
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

IncumbentStephanie Garcia Richard advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Garcia Richard	100.0	116,641

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 116,641
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

Jefferson Byrd advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jefferson Byrd	100.0	92,318

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 92,318
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Aubrey Dunn (R)

2018

See also:New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner election, 2018

General election

General election for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

Stephanie Garcia Richard defeatedPatrick H. Lyons andMichael Lucero in the general election for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Garcia Richard (D)	51.1	352,335
		Patrick H. Lyons (R)	43.1	297,379
		Michael Lucero (L)	5.8	39,791

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 689,505
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

Stephanie Garcia Richard defeatedGarrett VeneKlasen andGeorge Munoz in the Democratic primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Garcia Richard	39.5	65,601
	Submit photo	Garrett VeneKlasen	37.2	61,783
		George Munoz	23.3	38,770

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 166,154
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

Patrick H. Lyons advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patrick H. Lyons	100.0	67,527

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 67,527
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands

Michael Lucero advanced from the Libertarian primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michael Lucero	100.0	608

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 608
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

2016

See also:New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for theNew Mexico House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 8, 2016.

IncumbentStephanie Garcia Richard defeatedSharon Stover in the New Mexico House of Representatives District 43 general election.^[2][3]

New Mexico House of Representatives District 43, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Stephanie Garcia RichardIncumbent	58.85%	8,452
	Republican	Sharon Stover	41.15%	5,910
Total Votes				14,362
Source:New Mexico Secretary of State

IncumbentStephanie Garcia Richard ran unopposed in the New Mexico House of Representatives District 43 Democratic primary.^[4]

New Mexico House of Representatives District 43, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Stephanie Garcia RichardIncumbent (unopposed)

Sharon Stover ran unopposed in the New Mexico House of Representatives District 43 Republican primary.^[5]

New Mexico House of Representatives District 43, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Sharon Stover (unopposed)

This district was included in the Republican State Leadership Committee's list of "16 in '16: Races to Watch." Read more »

2014

See also:New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for theNew Mexico House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014, and a general election took place onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 4, 2014. IncumbentStephanie Richard was unopposed in the Democratic primary, whileGeoff Rodgers defeatedVincent Chiravalle in the Republican primary. Richard defeated Rodgers in the general election.^[6][7]

TheNew Mexico House of Representatives was a battleground chamber thatBallotpedia identified as having the opportunity to switch partisan control in 2014. The New Mexico House had a difference in partisan balance between Democrats and Republican of four seats, which amounted to 5.7 percent of the chamber.District 43 in theHouse was identified by Ballotpedia, theAlbuquerque Journal andNew Mexico Telegram as a battleground district that would be key in determining control of theNew Mexico House of Representatives. In a traditionally Republican district,District 43 was represented by first-term DemocratStephanie Garcia Richard. She defeated Los Alamos County Council ChairGeoff Rodgers (R) in the general election. In 2012, Richard won the general election by a margin of victory of only 2 percent.^[8][9]

New Mexico House of Representatives, District 43 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Stephanie RichardIncumbent	56.8%	5,955
	Republican	Geoff Rodgers	43.2%	4,522
Total Votes				10,477

New Mexico House of Representatives, District 43 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Geoff Rodgers	53.3%	842
Vincent Chiravalle	46.7%	737
Total Votes		1,579

Endorsements

In 2014, Garcia Richard's endorsements included the following:^[10]

2012

See also:New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2012

Garcia Richard ran in the2012 election forNew Mexico House of Representatives District 43. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on June 5, 2012, and defeated incumbentJames W. Hall (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.^[11][12]

New Mexico House of Representatives, District 43, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Stephanie Richard	51.2%	7,119
	Republican	Jim HallIncumbent	48.8%	6,788
Total Votes				13,907

Endorsements

In 2012, Richard’s endorsements included the following:^[13]

• The AFL-CIO
• Planned Parenthood
• The NEA
• People for Animal Welfare of New Mexico

2010

See also:New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2010

Richard defeated Peter Sheehey in the June 1, 2010, Democratic primary by a margin of 1,299-882. Richard lost to incumbentJeannette Wallace (R) in the general election on November 2, 2010.^[14][15]

New Mexico House of Representatives Democratic Primary, District 43 (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Stephanie Richard		1,299
Peter Sheehey		882

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Stephanie Garcia Richard did not completeBallotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Stephanie Garcia Richard did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Richard and her husband, Eric Vasquez, have two daughters.^[13]

State legislative tenure

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in New Mexico

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of New Mexico scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2018

In 2018, the 53rdNew Mexico State Legislature, second session, was in session from January 16 through February 15.

• Conservation Voters New Mexico

Legislators are scored on environmental and conservation issues.

• Rio Grande Foundation

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills relating to economic issues.

• The American Conservative Union

Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Garcia Richard served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Garcia Richard served on the following committees:

See also

2026 Elections

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Newsletters

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External links

Footnotes

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