Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya sounded like an almost-candidate for state land commissioner when he sent me an e-mail earlier this month.
Apparently, the Democrat is now fully a candidate.
Montoya told The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell that he is running, Terrell wrote on his blog.
“I’m not surprised,” Terrell wrote. “He was introduced at the recent lieutenant governor candidate forum as a candidate, and he didn’t put up any argument.”
Earlier this month, Montoya confirmed in an e-mail to me his interest in the race, and said he’s looking at making an announcement later this month or early in October. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent today.
Public Regulation Commission Chairman Sandy Jones and former state Land Commissioner Ray Powell have also entered the race, and former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid has said she’s thinking about running.
On the Republican side, GOP activist Bob Cornelius and retired law-enforcement agent Errol Chavez are running.
They’re all battling to replace the GOP’s Pat Lyons, the current land commissioner who is term limited from seeking re-election.
This week’s non-scientific poll on this site was put up before Terrell wrote about Montoya confirming that he’s running. I am unable to change the wording in the poll once it’s been published, so Montoya will continue to be referred to in the poll as a potential candidate.