As any politically aware person knows, having good judges matters. Are you informed about our Democratic Statewide Judicial Slate? Normally, they would have seen us in-person by now, but during these COVID times, there haven’t been as many opportunities, though members of Blue CD2 were able to hear all the candidates in a virtual meeting Monday the 13th.
Below is some more information on our Judicial slate.
We have FOUR statewide Justices/Judges that will be on the Democratic ballot for 2022!
All four of these Justices/Judges were appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, and now they must run in the 2022 election to keep their seats.
Justice Julie Vargas, NM Supreme Court, Position 1
Justice Vargas was appointed to the Supreme Court upon the retirement of Justice Judith Nakamura
Justice Briana Zamora, NM Supreme Court, Position 2
Justice Zamora was appointed to the Supreme Court upon the retirement of Justice Barbara Vigil.
Judge Gerald Baca, NM Court of Appeals, Position 1
Judge Baca was appointed upon the vacancy of when Julie Vargas was appointed to the Supreme Court.
Judge Katherine Wray, NM Court of Appeals, Position 2
Judge Wray was appointed upon the vacancy of when Briana Zamora was appointed to the Supreme Court.
Whenever a vacancy occurs on a court, people go through the bi-partisan Judicial Nominating Commission to get recommended to the Governor, and then the Governor gets to appoint someone. But, the appointed Judge must then run in a partisan election in the next cycle to keep their seat.
These four judges’ campaigns are currently doing three main things:
1.Collecting Nominating Petitions – they must get nearly 4,000 signatures each from registered Democrats across the state in order to be on the ballot. You can download each of their petitions at their respective websites. Websites have instructions on how to return. If you signed any of their petitions in person when Gabe Vasquez spoke at the T or C Brewery, you should not sign a second time.
2. Qualifying for Public Financing – they must collect nearly 1,400 $5 Qualifying Contributions from voters across the state (any registered voter of any party can do this)
You can do this online at each of their respective websites.
3. Collect seed funding directly to the campaign of up to $100 per person. Any person of any party can donate directly to the campaign of up to $100 per person (only personal funds; no business or corporate funds) You can donate directly at each of their respective websites.
In these COVID times, it is harder than ever to collect signatures, collect the $5 public financing, and hold fundraisers. We are depending on word-of-mouth, email blasts, and social media to help spread the word.
Thank you for helping our statewide Justices/Judges!
There’s no party meeting this month. You can dedicate what would have been our meeting time to supporting these judges.
Sierra County New Mexico Democrats 