Water is Life. We support equitable local and sustainable New Mexico farming and ranching, fair water access emphasizing agriculture that feeds New Mexicans, water conservation efforts, and regenerative soil practices. We must increase access to fresh and nutritious foods in all communities, under the direction of impacted communities.

Democrats recognize the role of the arts in giving meaning and purpose to our lives and toward making a community engaging to its citizens, tourists, labor force, and business partners. We are committed to investing in the arts and artists to continue our state’s rich cultural heritage.

Every American, especially people of color, women, and other marginalized communities, has the right to a job that provides for adequate food, housing, clothing, health care, recreation, and protection from the economic fears of old age, illness, or accidents. We must ensure adequate resources for future generations to provide equally for themselves. Businesses have the right to operate free from unfair competition at home and abroad. We support a progressive tax system where all businesses and individuals pay their fair share.

All people have the right to just, equitable, dignified, and respectful treatment.

Democrats seek to improve public safety by reforming the criminal justice system to focus on implementing programs that prevent criminal activity, divert people from crime, prosecution, and detention; programs that provide effective treatment of underlying drug addiction and mental illness; and, programs that rehabilitate the accused and the detained. We seek a criminal justice system that also focuses on ending the influence of white supremacy, the ideology that has led to mass incarceration, the “new Jim Crow”;  on establishing community-based alternatives to the inhumane prison-industrial complex; and, on prioritizing the holistic healing of crime victims and perpetrators through restorative justice practices. Democrats strongly believe that all people who live and work in places of detention have the right to a safe and healthy environment.

An educated populace is the cornerstone of sustainable democracy and the single most important driver of economic prosperity. Children and adults have a right to affordable, high-quality education that enables them to pursue the career of their choice and to participate meaningfully in our society. The state of New Mexico must fully fund an equitable system of education from pre-K to college or career and provide collaborative oversight of resources spent on public education alongside local educational authorities.

Democrats support the use of renewable energy, workforce development and job creation in this sector, and small businesses in a just transition to a renewable energy infrastructure. We will position New Mexico as a key global hub for technology, manufacturing, and construction to join and accelerate the clean-energy transition. In our communities, Democrats will raise awareness to promote the adoption of conservation of natural resources, energy efficiency, technologies, and policies necessary to protect air, land, and water, and do everything in our power to mitigate and counter climate catastrophe. We will engage community members in decision making through meaningful consultation and full participation in environmental-justice planning.

Government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed. The people, through their government, must guarantee that all have an equal voice and equal representation. People have a fundamental right to participate in the political process through voting, running for office, and otherwise engaging in the political process as appropriate for a person’s age. We do not tolerate voter suppression. We actively work to prevent and remove obstructions to voting in all elections. We demand a well-regulated and equitable campaign-finance system.

Health care is a fundamental human right, as is a robust public health system and resources to support it. Regardless of their circumstance, everyone in New Mexico and the U.S. should have access to comprehensive, affordable, high-quality health care in conjunction with comprehensive behavioral health services and reproductive care, including access to birth control, quality prenatal and postpartum care, and abortion care. 

Democrats believe that everyone deserves to live in a safe, stable, affordably priced home. We must address the need for real solutions that will increase the supply and access to all levels of housing throughout the state. We must enact policies that support all New Mexicans, protect tenants, landlords, and homeowners, and help those who need additional resources in order to live safely and remain valuable contributors to our communities.

Immigrants strengthen our communities. Through comprehensive reform, we will create humane and non-discriminatory asylum and immigration systems that keep families together and ensure attainable paths to citizenship. We must prepare our communities and institutions to welcome immigrants and asylum seekers migrating due to climate change, globalization, political persecution, and violence. Non-citizens must be afforded the same human and legal rights as U.S. citizens, including access to quality education, health care, a living wage, and worker protections.

Democrats recognize and respect tribal sovereignty and acknowledge the fundamental Trust Responsibility of the United States government to American Indian and Alaska Native People and tribal governments as grounded and embedded in treaties, laws, and court decisions. Democrats will work to promote positive government-to-government relations and effective collaboration between the state and Indian Nations, Tribes, and Pueblos. Democrats will honor, strengthen, and fulfill the sovereign, inherent rights of Tribes and Pueblos in New Mexico. Democrats will work to enact laws, policies, and political processes that are led and informed by the Tribes and Pueblos of New Mexico. Democrats will work to ensure that New Mexico Tribes and Pueblos have access to clean air, land, and water; and will consistently defend their sovereign rights to regain, maintain, and protect their natural and cultural resources, sacred sites, economic interests, cultural identity, Indigenous languages, and rights to self-determination.

All actions of U.S. institutions and supporting organizations must reflect integrity, respect, and ethical behavior in accordance with human rights and international norms and laws.  We believe that our security, prosperity, and well-being are best served by increased and prioritized resources and funding for diplomacy, alliances, and peacebuilding interventions of governmental and non-governmental organizations to foster friendly and cooperative relations with all countries, especially border countries.

Democrats will remove obstacles for workers, public and private, to exercise their right to organize, form, and join unions. We recognize that unions contribute to building a stronger middle class, as well as their crucial role in fighting for living wages, fair work rules and hiring practices, and safe working conditions. In the absence of a state-based living wage, unions have been shown to close the earning and wage gaps, especially for women and communities of color. Unions have democratized our workplaces and help to counterbalance the overreach of modern monopolies, providing a much-needed check on the unfettered socioeconomic stratification of our society.

Free, fair, and balanced media is foundational to our democracy. Locally sourced news presented in diverse platforms with multiple opposing views from independent journalists and other members of the information landscape is essential to a functional democracy. People must be media literate to make sound voting decisions and to be rational participants in civic engagement.

Everyone has a basic right to be free from coercion, exploitation, economic injustice, and violence, including harm imposed by private and corporate degradation of water, air, and soil. We support a multi-faceted strategy for public safety including law enforcement, intervention and treatment, and a comprehensive layering of firearm safety policies. We support safety and economic justice for all.

Government has a primary role in supporting science and technology for the public good and for economic development. Technology has the potential to drive social and economic change and should be equitably accessible to all. Policymakers should be informed by the best science available.

Democrats believe in state and federal investment in public infrastructure and transportation to improve our state’s economic competitiveness, create jobs, fulfill climate targets, and achieve equitable and safe communities. We also believe everyone should have clean affordable water, electricity, heat, and high-speed internet.

All qualified persons who wish to serve our nation should be free to do so without discrimination. Our country must honor all of its veterans and wounded warriors, especially those who have been historically marginalized within the Veterans Affairs system, such as women, Black, Indigenous, people of color, non-citizens, and LGBTQ+. Our party passed the G.I. Bill of Rights and will always work to protect the benefits our veterans and their families have earned in service to our nation and its interests.

Democrats must act now to secure our water future. We must support equitable, evidence-based, water planning, management, and stewardship. New Mexico will equitably and effectively adapt to climate change and best sustain what we value: our diverse cultures, our people and economy, food production, and riverine and riparian ecosystems.

Democrats shall ensure equitable treatment for women in education, employment, health care, civic and political participation, and in all other spheres of society. We recognize that violence against women and girls is a pandemic and we stand firm in the need for a societal shift away from violence, exploitation, exclusion, and harassment, including vigorous prosecution of perpetrators. Democrats support women’s rights to make their own decisions regarding their education, employment, opportunities, and body.