Gabriel Duran Jr. is running for New Mexico State Representative in the 35th District in the Democratic Primary. He shared with KRWG News why he is seeking the office.
Transcript:
Anthony Moreno: Joining us now is Gabriel Duran Jr., he is a Democratic candidate running for New Mexico's 35th district in the State House. Gabriel, thank you so much for joining us.
Gabriel Duran: Oh, thank you so much for having me Mr. Moreno.
Anthony Moreno: Can we start off by hearing a little bit about yourself?
Gabriel Duran: Sure, sure. So, I was born and raised here in Las Cruces. I actually grew up in District 35. I'm a graduate of Mayfield High School. I'm a U.S. Army veteran. I'm also a proud Aggie. I got my bachelor's degree in government and a supplement degree in law in society. I have a master's degree in public administration. I coach youth sports here in Las Cruces for about 15 years. I'm a substitute teacher and remain connected to the schools and my community in various ways. I have my business here, my family here, and I truly care about what’s the state of my district.
Anthony Moreno: Let's talk a little bit about why you are running for this office. Can you share a little bit about that for us?
Gabriel Duran: Absolutely. I'd love to. So, I know that my district deserves a representative that is connected with the people of our district. I am not bringing political agendas with me. I'm here to represent the people of my district. After all, that is what it should be about in order to do so, I will personally stay knocking on doors every day, talking to my constituents and most importantly, asking the overdue question. What is important to you? And that's how I created my platform, you know, then the top and that's really why I'm running.
Anthony Moreno: OK, now let's talk about the issues. What do you feel are the biggest issues facing District 35?
Gabriel Duran: Sure. Well, like I said, I've created my platform based off of the constituents of the district and the top response is when I ask what is important to them, you know, is things like public safety, crime is continuing to increase in the neighborhoods and businesses, education, you know, we have been 50th in the nation for far too long. Mental health and healthcare, you know, we need to find ways to attract and retain our mental health and healthcare professionals. They are leaving us at an alarming rate and with mental health in general, so many of the issues that we see today intersect with with mental health and a lot of the other issues, especially when we're talking about drug addiction and homelessness, and lastly, you know local, local economy supporting our small businesses. Creating, you know, good jobs for the constituents and. And also you know, we'll continue to push a lot on, you know, equality and environmental and those types of things as well.
Anthony Moreno: All right. Now with these issues, if elected, how do you plan on addressing them at the state legislature?
Gabriel Duran: Well, a lot of this you know, what comes into play is the fact that, you know, when I got my master's degree in public administration, I studied the metrics of policies and legislation and budgets and those types of things. So, I could really understand the legislation as it reads, and sometimes I feel like we need to we need to really look at the legislation before we before we push it forward and vote on it. Those types of things. So, like for instance in regards to crime, you know, although the bail reform idea might have come out of good faith and those types of things, that's great, but I don't think that we really anticipated the consequences that are happening right now when it comes to that and how it actually plays could play into a lot of the issues that we're dealing with crime and those types of things. So as a state representative, I will always answer my phone and be accessible to all my constituents, whether they agree with me or not, and the people are tired of big, polarizing politics. And I'm here for the people. I want to be accessible to the people and stay connected throughout my seat as a state representative for District 35.
Anthony Moreno: Gabriel Duran Jr. is a Democratic candidate running for state representative in New Mexico's 35th district. Gabriel, thank you for joining us.
Gabriel Duran: Thank you so much.
