Las Cruces Mayor-elect Eric Enriquez's government experience expected to help him on job

Roughly a year ago, Eric Enriquez was looking for a space for his campaign headquarters after announcing his candidacy for Las Cruces mayor.

While visiting the Mesilla Valley Mall, Enriquez came across a group of walkers who use the mall every morning to exercise.

"They looked like they care about their health, they are part of the community and they are probably voters," Enriquez said on Wednesday afternoon, hours after his victory in the 2023 mayoral election.

Unofficial results posted by the New Mexico Secretary of State show he was the top vote-getter in the race.

Enriquez said he reached out to the mall manager, who opened the doors for the walkers each morning two hours before the mall's business hours.

"It ended up turning out better than I thought," Enriquez said. "It wasn't just the walkers, but being available and present. People knew who I was. They saw my signs and banners in the mall. I was creating an opportunity for people to come to me."

It was more than the mall walking community who helped Enriquez pull off a late night comeback victory.

The race was close throughout the night, but Enriquez never led before the decisive sixth round of Ranked Choice Voting to edge out current Mayor Pro Tem Kasandra Gandara.

Third place finisher Isabella Solis was eliminated in the fourth round and of her 3,080 voters in round five, 1,718 had selected either Gandara or Enriquez as their next choice. Enriquez picked up about 70% of those votes. Until that point, Enriquez never led in any round.

Although the 2023 Municipal Election is just the second mayoral race determined by ranked choice voting, outgoing Mayor Ken Miyagishima said the election reminded him of the race that put him in office in 2007. Miyagishima said he led by 10 votes with votes from two conservative districts left to be counted - one of which he lived in for 25 years and one of which he lived at the time - pushing his lead to 74 votes.

"I have been looking at this for a couple of years and really made a decision at the beginning of the year and made my announcement in April," Gandara said during election night. "We had a great ground game. I canvassed every day so I'm confident people know what my platform was about."

But Enriquez, a Mayfield High and New Mexico State alum, remained optimistic as Solis voters started to push him past Gandara.

"I was very optimistic," he said. "I thought things were looking good for us when ranked choice results started coming in. I'm a native of Las Cruces and that fact alone I thought will maybe contribute to getting some ranked choice votes."

Prior roles in Las Cruces government prepared Eric Enriquez to run for mayor

With a background in public safety, Enriquez held two positions under the city umbrella before he retired in 2022 after two years as assistant city manager under current City Manager Ifo Pili.

He was the Las Cruces Fire Department chief from 2016 to 2020.

Enriquez said returning to city government in an elected capacity did not occur to him before former U.S. Ambassador Delano Lewis planted the seed.

"When I was fire chief, Delano Lewis told me he thought he sees mayor in my future," Enriquez said. "A lot of what I did was working alongside elected officials for years in closed door sessions and knowing what policies were working or not working. I thought that would give me some insight. People were looking for a change and wanted to see change in the city."

As Enriquez is set to step into the mayor's chair in January, his predecessor even acknowledges that Enriquez has a well rounded resume to do the job.

"I think he's going to do a fine job," said Miyagishima, who served 16 year as mayor. "I think the biggest advantage over me that he has coming in, even though I was a counselor, he was at the top of the management chain. He will be able to know, theoretically, what he can do and can't do."

The mayor of Las Cruces holds less power compared to the mayor of Santa Fe or Albuquerque, for example. In those New Mexican municipalities, the mayor is the chief executive of the city government. They oversee the city's agencies, appoint department heads, enforce the city's laws, and propose a yearly budget. And in the case of Albuquerque, the mayor can veto decisions made by the council but is not a voting member.

Enriquez ready to work with new Las Cruces City Council

Enriquez will be in working with William “Bill” Mattiace, who defeated incumbent District 2 counselor Tessa Abeyta by 54 votes, according to unofficial results.

Mattiace is one of two new members on the council but a familiar face in Las Cruces politics. He is a former mayor and previously served as a District 2 councilor.

Cassie McClure won the District 1 race, which was vacated when Gandara entered the race for mayor while Councilor Johana Bencomo won her re-election bid for District 4.

"I feel I will have a good relationship with council," Enriquez said. "I'm excited. I think we are all in it for the right reasons. I think we can put together a strong plan, but I know they all have different expectations for their own district. They have been doing it for a few years and I'm sure there are a few things they want to do and have some unfinished projects so we will see how we can get them done."

Enriquez said that public safety is a priority in his first term.

"To generate that safety, there are a lot of unhoused individuals so I want to put together a plan and sit down with councilors and see how we can help accomplish making Las Cruces safer," he said. "I want to look at how we can continue to talk affordable housing and innovations in technology for our police."

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces Mayor-elect Eric Enriquez ready to step into job