Bilingual math teacher selected to fill House seat

Jan. 9—The new members of the Bernalillo County Commission took a different direction Monday in their selection of a candidate to fill a vacant seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives.

The board voted 3-2 to appoint bilingual teacher and Mexican immigrant Flor Yanira Gurrola Valenzuela to represent House District 16 for the next two years.

Under different commissioners, the five-member board in December selected Marsella Duarte to fill the remainder of former state Rep. Moe Maestas' term in 2022 after Maestas was appointed to fill a vacancy in the New Mexico Senate. Duarte's appointment was only for 2 1/2 weeks.

Before stepping down as a state representative, Maestas won another two-year term in the House. Although members of the previous commission tried to appoint Duarte to the new two-year term, the Secretary of State's Office determined that appointment would have to wait until the new year.

With two new members, the commission selected Gurrola Valenzuela over Duarte and four other candidates who applied to serve Maestas' 2023-24 term. The previous commission had bypassed Gurrola Valenzuela and seven other applicants in favor of Duarte, a kindergarten teacher who has worked in the Legislature as a committee secretary and legislative aide.

Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada made the case for Duarte to continue to represent the district.

"Today we're going to set a precedent, and I don't really believe that our precedent today should be replacing a sitting representative that's already sitting in that chair and has done the work up in Santa Fe for the last 15 days that we asked her to do," he said.

Quezada also indicated the new commission should honor the will of the previous board.

"If we don't do what we initially did in December, I think it sets a precedent that may come back to haunt this commission, and I wouldn't like this commission to start off doing something that has never been done [by] getting rid of somebody who's already sitting in the chair," he said. "This isn't a resignation. This isn't a death. This isn't anything. This is somebody who's already sitting in the chair."

Commissioner Eric Olivas, one of the new members who voted in support of Gurrola Valenzuela, said the district would be served well "by just about" any of the candidates. But he said Gurrola Valenzuela stood out.

"Her background as an educator is really important," he said. "She's worked at some tough schools, and she's done some amazing work, and I think that's something that we really need to see in the statehouse. She brings a really unique perspective as an immigrant, an educator, as somebody that's worked in dual language programs and also worked in the maquiladoras and the manufacturing region around the border. I think that she'll be somebody that's able to really bring a nexus of education and economic opportunity."

Olivas said Commissioner Barbara Baca's support of Gurrola Valenzuela was also an important consideration. Baca's commission district overlaps with House District 16.

"As many have said here, this decision belongs to the voters," he said. "Four of the five of us do not live in this district. There's only one commissioner that's ever run for election in this area and so I think that that matters to me as well."

Commissioner Adriann Barboa also voted in support of Gurrola Valenzuela, who, according to an online bio, has a bachelor's degree in electronic industrial engineering from El Instituto Tecnólogico de Chihuahua and a master's in curriculum and instructional leadership from the College of Santa Fe.

Quezeda and Commissioner Walt Benson, who voted to appoint Duarte to the seat last year, cast the dissenting votes.

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.