New Mexico voters have elected Juan de Jesus Sanchez III as the state's next land commissioner, putting a Los Chavez resident in charge of an office that oversees 9 million surface acres and 13 million mineral acres and controls billions of dollars in annual revenue. Sanchez defeated Republican Michael Perry of Roswell, who spent more than 20 years with the New Mexico Wildlife Department and served as assistant lands commissioner at the State Land Office from 2016 to 2019, and will succeed term-limited Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard, who is headed to the lieutenant governor's office.
Unofficial results reported around 10 p.m. on Tuesday showed Sanchez with a 60-40 lead over Perry, according to the Albuquerque Journal. A separate unofficial count from the Associated Press, reported by KUNM, put Sanchez's share of the vote at 60.3%. Either way, the win keeps the State Land Office under Democratic control for another four years, the Journal reports.
The job Sanchez is inheriting carries outsized financial stakes for the state. In fiscal year 2025, land managed by the office generated nearly $2.6 billion in rent and royalties, per the Journal's reporting, continuing a run of revenue that has topped $2 billion annually and is largely driven by oil and gas royalties, according to Source New Mexico. The agency's own figures show $2.4 billion in fiscal year 2022, a record $2.75 billion in fiscal year 2023, and $2.56 billion in fiscal year 2024, with a record $214 million of that most recent total coming from non-oil-and-gas activity, according to the New Mexico State Land Office. Public schools receive about 85% of the revenue the agency generates, the office notes.
A Background In Water, Parks And The Acequia Commission
Sanchez brings a resume built around natural resources management. The Santa Fe New Mexican's Q&A with candidates notes he has worked as a park ranger and as a natural resources specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and he is currently pursuing a Master of Water Resources at the University of New Mexico, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. His opponent, Perry, spent more than 20 years with the New Mexico Wildlife Department and served as assistant lands commissioner at the State Land Office between 2016 and 2019, according to Source New Mexico.
On the campaign trail, Sanchez laid out plans to decentralize the office's operations, telling the Albuquerque Journal he wants “more folks working in the communities that the lands are in” as part of a broader push toward stewardship projects and outdoor recreation. That local-first approach extends to how he frames his priorities for an office whose constitutional mandate, under Article XIII, Section 2 of the New Mexico Constitution, is the direction, control, care and disposition of public lands.
Uranium Moratorium And Data Center Guardrails
Sanchez has committed to keeping in place the existing moratorium on new uranium mining on state trust lands. “I support the current moratorium on new uranium mining on state trust lands and will keep it in place as state land commissioner,” he told the Santa Fe New Mexican. That policy traces back to Garcia Richard, who announced an executive order banning new uranium mines on lands her office oversees, according to Source New Mexico's reporting on the race.
Sanchez has also taken a cautious stance on the data center boom reshaping New Mexico's energy landscape. He supports a statewide moratorium on new data center projects until stronger guardrail legislation passes, saying any rules should include “strong water, environmental and energy standards, transparency, ensure local good paying jobs and meaningful community input,” per the same Q&A. Still, he told the Journal he would consider allowing a natural gas pipeline supplying the Project Jupiter data center complex in Doña Ana County to cross 0.6 miles of state trust land — a project Garcia Richard twice rejected, according to KUNM.
An Office Already Reshaped By Garcia Richard's Policies
Garcia Richard's two terms left a mark that Sanchez now inherits. Beyond the uranium moratorium, she imposed a moratorium on oil-and-gas leasing on state lands near Chaco Culture National Historical Park and enacted stricter oil and gas bonding rules, according to Source New Mexico. Garcia Richard's efforts to diversify the office's revenue streams, including leasing lands for renewable energy, helped push non-oil-and-gas income to record levels, a trend she credited to seeking more diverse opportunities, per Source New Mexico's earlier reporting on the office's finances.
With Garcia Richard moving on to the lieutenant governor's office and Sanchez set to take her place, the State Land Office faces continuity on some fronts and open questions on others — particularly how an office built to balance conservation and development will navigate the fast-growing pressure from data centers and the energy demands that come with them.
