Write-in candidates can still file
Two incumbents have filed to run for seats on the University of New Mexico-Gallup Advisory Board, officials confirmed.
McKinley County Director of Elections Rick Palolcak said Edwin J. Begay will face Priscilla Smith for the Position 1 post and Marvin Murphy will take on Ralph Richards for the Position 2 post.
Smith, a former owner and operator of a Gallup copying and printing and graphic arts business, is a Democrat. Richards is a Republican.
The political persuasions of Begay and Murphy weren’t immediately clear as of press time.
No one filed to run for Position 3, Palochak said. If no one ends up running for the Position 3 slot as a write-in candidate, then someone will be appointed to that post, he added.
“Those are the filings that we have at the moment,” Palochak said. “There is still time for write-in candidates.”
Palochak said interested candidates have until Jan. 3 to run as write-in candidates. The election is Feb. 7.
Positions 1 and 2 represent McKinley County whereas Position 3 is based in Zuni, Palochak noted.
UNM-Gallup advisory board members serve four-year voluntary terms. Terms are staggered so there is an election every two years, according to the school’s website. Position 1 is up for re-election in March 2019.
According to the school’s website, the duties of the advisory board include acting as an advisory board to the university’s bigger Board of Regents; approving a campus budget and relaying it to the Board of Regents; providing approval and certification for the tax levy to McKinley County Commission; call elections for tax levies for the Gallup campus, after approval of the Board of Regents; and call elections for advisory board positions.
The other members of the UNM-G Local Advisory Board are Gerald O’Hara and Olin Kieyoomia. Early and absentee voting starts Jan. 13, Palochak said. The next advisory board meeting is Feb. 21 at 1 pm in the Director’s Conference Room in Gurley Hall on the UNM-G campus.
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent
