The Race Is On in House District 50

Matthew McQueen

Matthew McQueen, a 46-year-old lawyer from Galisteo who has been involved in various environmental and community groups, announced today that he's running for the Democratic nomination for the House District 50 seat.

In his announcement news release, McQueen took a swipe at Republican Vickie Perea, who Gov. Susana Martinez recently appointed to fill out the term of the late Rep. Stephen Easley, a Democrat.

"Despite the governor's decision to appoint a right-wing politician that is more in line with her own agenda than the district's values, I am ready to offer the residents of House District 50 the independent leadership that they have consistently chosen in the past," he said.

He promised to "provide the residents of House District 50 with an independent voice equal to that of the late Rep. Stephen Easley ..."

McQueen had applied for the vacant House seat after Easley's death. However, the Santa Fe County Commission instead nominated another applicant, Ann Jenkins, a Democrat from Eldorado who is a retired information manager for a pharmaceutical company. Jenkins, who also was nominated by the Bernalillo County Commission, said at the time she might run for the House seat even if Martinez didn't chose her.

Currently, McQueen serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce, the Galisteo Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association, and the Galisteo Community Association.

He has previously served on the Santa Fe River Commission, the Bureau of Land Management Resource Advisory Council, the Santa Fe County Open Land, Trails & Parks Advisory Committee, and the Galisteo Community Planning Committee.

McQueen lives with his wife, Caroline Seigel, in the village of Galisteo.

More in tomorrow's New Mexican.

Updated 2:05 pm An earlier version of this post misstated McQueen's age.