As a Democrat living and working in a Republican-leaning community in southern New Mexico, 2nd Congressional District candidate Roxanne “Rocky” Lara says she’s developed a knack for working well with political opponents.
Lara, a 39-year-old family law attorney from Carlsbad, said that kind of collaborative attitude is an essential for Congress these days.
She points to last year’s federal government shutdown, which cut federal payments to the national labs, military bases and other federal work being done in New Mexico for more than two weeks. Lara says the shutdown hurt thousands in the 2nd Congressional District and threatened the livelihoods of many.
Lara says the shutdown was partly the fault of her opponent, Republican Rep. Steve Pearce, because of a standoff in Congress over Obamacare.
“That’s the thing that everybody seems to be very hungry for: someone who wants to work with others to get things done,” Lara said.
“While I’m a Democrat, I was born and raised and lived my whole life in a very conservative part of the district,” she said. “Throughout my career, I’ve been surrounded by people I didn’t always agree with.”
Lara points to her experience as an Eddy County commissioner from 2009 to 2012, on a board led by Republicans, as proof of her ability to work with political opponents.
“We just looked around the room and saw who had ideas,” Lara said.
Cutting spending
Lara generally describes her political views as conservative on financial issues and liberal on social issues. That approach has won her the endorsement of the so-called Blue Dog Democrats, a shrinking caucus of Democrats in Congress advocating for reduced federal spending.
To address the federal government’s deficit, Lara said, Congress and the states must adopt a constitutional amendment that requires a balanced budget each year. That approach would halt the practice of spending more than the government is taking in, Lara said.
“Those are things that in New Mexico (state government) we’re required to do, and the federal government should be under that same kind of requirement,” Lara said.
Lara criticized Pearce’s approach to reducing federal spending by supporting a budget that she said would cut spending on education, infrastructure and Medicare.
“I think those things are not resonating with this district. Those are not the things we need to move forward, and they don’t share our values,” Lara said.
Instead, Lara said, she would advocate for eliminating tax loopholes for corporations that transfer jobs overseas.
She said she would also look for federal budget cuts by eliminating congressional perks, such as the use of what she calls “luxury” vehicles and lifetime health care coverage.
Minimum wage
Lara says she is concerned about the district’s lagging economy.
One measure that she says would go a long way toward boosting business is raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, a rate President Barack Obama has advocated.
Lara says Santa Fe, with a current minimum wage of $10.66, offers proof that the higher wage benefits the local economy.
“Taking data from other places that have higher wages, what I’ve seen is it puts more money in the pockets of consumers to spend,” Lara said. “It also spends more money on gross receipts. Overall, it raises the economy.”
Lara said Congress can also aid southern New Mexico’s economy by making changes to Obamacare.
She notes the law currently offers credits for small-business owners with fewer than 25 employees who opt to provide their workers with health care benefits. She said that credit should be extended to businesses with up to 50 employees to help more small businesses cut costs.
“There are definitely improvements to be made to the law,” Lara said. “… It’s not perfect. It does a lot of good things, but our small businesses are suffering from the costs.”
A closer race
Lara launched her bid to challenge the district’s five-term incumbent after an unsuccessful race to serve as chairwoman of the New Mexico Democratic Party in 2013.
But in her bid for Congress, Lara has turned heads and led many Democrats to believe she – as a Hispanic female candidate in a heavily Hispanic 2nd Congressional District – is an especially competitive candidate.
Supporters demonstrated that early in Lara’s bid, helping her raise three times more campaign money during the first quarter for reporting than the unsuccessful Democratic challenger raised overall in 2012.
That momentum prompted the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to take note and jump in to help Lara’s bid in a district it had previously written off as a Republican stronghold.
However, Lara has trailed Pearce’s funding advantage. The most recent campaign finance report, filed in July, showed Pearce with a 2-to-1 cash advantage over Lara, with nearly $1.47 million in the bank compared with Lara’s nearly $712,000.
Lara said she’s committed to turning the tables.
“Hard work is not lost on me,” she said. “I’m working hard in this race, and I think a lot of people see that.”