Joshua Sanchez, Republican candidate for Senate District 30
Joshua Sanchez sees New Mexico needs a change, and wants to be that change, based on his years as a small business owner.
“We need to bring in more jobs,” Sanchez told the Gallup Sun June 4. “That’s what I’m running on. More jobs means less crime and less drugs. When people have money in their pocket, they feel good about themselves, so there is less of that.”
Sanchez was born south of Albuquerque, in Belen, and now lives in a rural farming community. After graduating from Belen High School, he took the technical skills he acquired from school and working on his family’s farm to RMCI construction and then to the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, where he served the community for 15 years.
After realizing from a young age that he was going to work in the field, Sanchez said he wanted to emphasize the value of vocational education in schools.
“A lot of the guys in the prison in Los Lunas, they get out and they have certificates of some kind of trade,” he said. “If they had picked up those certificates in school, they wouldn’t have to be in prison to get them.”
More people being ready to work in trades and start businesses or help current businesses get bigger, is what will drive the economy, Sanchez said.
“If we’re going to bring big business to New Mexico or District 30, we need to be business-ready,” he said.
While Sanchez emphasized the importance of bringing jobs to the state, he also said it’s important that a lot of those jobs are located in rural areas. With local power plants being shut down, a lot of workers will have no new workplace to transition to.
“We’re going to lose workers like mechanics, dump truck drivers, heavy equipment drivers when those sites close,” Sanchez said. “It’s inevitable.”
Sanchez wanted to thank all the people across New Mexico and District 30 who got out and voted, even when they had to wait in long lines and hot temperatures.
He said if people have any questions about his platform or goals, they are encouraged to reach out to his campaign at https://www.facebook.com/joshuasanchezNM.
By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent
