Michael Huerta Launches Campaign for Mayor of Las Cruces

Michael Ray Huerta, a native of Las Cruces who describes himself as "a longtime advocate for education reform and the prevention of youth bullying and suicide," today announced his campaign to become Mayor of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

“Over the past few months, I’ve been asked by hundreds of Las Crucens to run for mayor,” Huerta said in a statement released today. “I, like all Las Crucens, want leadership that puts results above rhetoric, and people above political agendas. I’m running for mayor because I’m the candidate who will bring that fresh approach to City Hall.”

Huerta also announced his first initiative of the campaign through his website, MichaelRayHuerta.com, and the campaign’s YouTube channel (see video above). The initiative, which focuses on fiscal accountability, proposes that elected politicians at Las Cruces City Hall reverse the pay increase they implemented in 2008.

“In the past four years, the city budget has decreased by nearly 30%,” Huerta said. “Middle class incomes have gone down, and one out of every five Las Crucens now live in poverty, including 35% of our children. Revenues are down, and services to Las Crucens have been drastically cut. Yet in that same time, city politicians - some of whom now want to be Mayor - voted to increase their own salaries by 10-15%. That isn’t right, it isn’t fair, and it isn’t fiscally accountable to Las Cruces tax payers.”

“I don’t expect this initiative to be popular with some of the politicians at city hall,” added Huerta. “For years, they’ve failed to act on this important issue. It’s about time they put the fiscal interests of Las Crucens ahead of their own personal agendas. They need to cut back the salary increase they gave themselves because in this economy, we can’t afford to keep a 15% raise for elected politicians.”

Michael Ray Huerta is a native of Las Cruces. He previously served as the Press Secretary for a US Member of Congress, while working various high level positions on national campaigns. Most recently, Huerta he worked in education reform that focused on low-income, low-performing schools throughout New Mexico. Now, Huerta says he works with his family’s small businesses across the Mesilla Valley.

The Las Cruces mayoral election is set for November 8. Current Mayor Ken Miyagishima says he is running for re-election, and District 2 City Councilor Dolores Connor has announced she is giving up her seat to run for mayor. Although the election is officially nonpartisan, it's well known that Miyagishima is a Democrat, as is Huerta. Connor is a Republican.