Las Cruces District 2 City Councilor Gregory Z. Smith won re-election Tuesday.
Courtesy photo
Gregory Z. Smith
Final numbers aren’t in, but official tallies had Smith leading challenger Philip VanVeen with 52 percent of the vote. Smith said his tally had him ahead with about 55 percent of the vote, and he expects that to hold.
“I really do appreciate the support from the community,” Smith said. “I appreciate the fact that people are paying attention and voting thoughtfully, and I look forward to serving this district, the city, and all the existing things we have ahead of us — because Las Cruces really is at a critical point.”
Las Cruces continues to struggle economically. The city remains in recession, and 23 percent of it residents live in poverty.
“The whole country is not in a very strong recovery from the 2008 recession,” Smith said. Typically New Mexico, and typically Las Cruces, lag behind what you have nationally.”
But Smith said Las Cruces is in the middle of a region with strong potential. He mentioned the industrial park and border crossing at Santa Teresa and Spaceport America.
“We really do have sort of a confluence of really strong opportunities,” Smith said. “I do think if we’re being thoughtful and we’re looking at what we’ve got, we do have that chance to do something really exciting here.”
VanVeen congratulated Smith in a message posted on Facebook.
“I always say we need to listen to the voice of the people, so now it is time to stand behind the candidates the people elected and do our best to be supportive,” VanVeen said.
In many ways, the District 2 race flew under the radar. The contest between Smith and VanVeen didn’t draw as much attention from independent groups that targeted the District 1 and District 4 council races and the mayor’s race.
This article has been updated.