Santa Fe Sheriff Greg Solano Announces Bid for NM Lt. Governor

Sheriff Greg Solano, a Democrat, announced his intention to run for Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico in 2010 at a press conference at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe today. The Santa Fe New Mexican has audio (MP3) of the announcement as well as the text of his prepared remarks. Kate Nash at the Albuquerque Tribune also has the story.

Besides giving Solano plenty of time to allow voters all over the state to get to know him, the early announcement might serve him well if Gov. Bill Richardson leaves his post early for Washington, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish moves up to the governorship and a replacement is needed for her current role. In order for an LG replacement to be named, a constitutional amendment would need to pass defining how that would happen. Currently no replacement process is defined. The current terms of both Richardson and Denish expire in 2010.

According to the Santa Fe Reporter:

“I’m running because I care,” Solano said at the Roundhouse press conference, as he ticked off a laundry list of concerns ranging from improving schools and access to health care, to supporting mass transit and sustainable energy.

Flanked by his wife, son and daughter, Solano read a prepared statement highlighting his Santa Fe roots, noting that as a child he spent many hours in the Roundhouse where his grandmother worked as a custodian.

“I remember playing in Gov. Bruce King’s office on the fourth floor,” Solano recalled. “He always was my favorite governor.”
In his remarks, Solano emphasized his own modest background.

“So many politicians are men and women of great wealth and high power,” he said. “How often does one of the masses run?”

After Solano lost a 1998 run for Santa Fe Sheriff by a couple hundred votes, he ran for the office again in 2002 and won. Last year, he won reelection by a large margin. Term limits preclude him from running for Sheriff again in 2010, when his current term ends. For more info see the Wikipedia entry on Solano.