New Mexico has made some significant and historic investments in early childhood – and there is exciting new evidence that those investments are making a huge difference for improved child well-being. In fact, our state’s Childcare Assistance program is very likely one of the factors for why child poverty is so vastly improved in a measurement recently released by the Census Bureau.

When the Census only measures parental income, New Mexico’s child poverty level is distressingly high – 27%, or the worst in the nation. But when anti-poverty programs like SNAP, housing assistance, and tax credits are taken into account, our child poverty rate plummets to less than 9% – or even...

As your elected representative, I am deeply concerned about the state of crime in Northwest New Mexico. Over the years, we’ve seen crime rates rise, but when we look at the number of criminal cases being prosecuted, something doesn’t add up, especially in McKinley County. In 2017, there were 6,397 criminal cases filed by the McKinley County District Attorney’s office. Fast forward to 2024, and that number has dropped to just 4,388 cases — nearly a third less. Yet, anyone who lives in McKinley County knows that crime is still on the rise.

Here’s where the problem lies: of the cases filed in 2024, only 1,697 are criminal cases, excluding traffic citations. This means fewer...

By Rich Lowry

It turns out that everyone underestimated how a proposal for mass deportations could bring Americans together. Donald Trump assembled the biggest, most diverse GOP coalition in decades while running further to the right on immigration, crime and culture than perhaps any major-party presidential candidate in U.S. history.

Trump inveighed against unchecked illegal immigration in harsh and lurid terms — and picked up Hispanic voters. Trump pledged to reverse “a brutal plague of bloodshed, crime, chaos, misery and death in our land” — and won more young voters.

Trump famously dethroned the Republican establishment in 2016, and now has crushed its theory of how to...

WASHINGTON D.C.  — U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez, N.M.,  voted in favor of H.R.82, the Social Security Fairness Act, which strengthens Social Security benefits for public servants, on Nov. 12. Vasquez understands that those who have worked hard should not be penalized for providing for their families. That’s why he co-sponsored this bill in his first year in office to address these issues.

“For too long, hard working New Mexicans, including firefighters, teachers and postal workers, have faced unfair cuts to their benefits,” Vasquez said. “I am proud to vote to pass the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act that solves this problem. This bill finally ensures that...