Las Cruces Bulletin: “Haaland talks public safety, policy during Las Cruces visit”
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Deb Haaland, who is running to be the next governor of New Mexico, has focused on talking directly to New Mexicans about her vision for the state.
In Las Cruces, Haaland hosted a roundtable discussion with law enforcement to understand the challenges they face and real solutions that will make New Mexicans safer. If elected Haaland will lower costs, invest in education, make healthcare more accessible and affordable, and make communities safer. Haaland sat down with the Las Cruces Bulletin to discuss some policy she has been working on:
1. Enhance educational opportunities for kids with an every child outdoors initiative.
2. Provide law enforcement with the tools they need to get violent criminals off the street and address the root causes of crime.
3. Bring the trades into middle and high school to ensure students have opportunity outside of the classroom.
4. Address the doctor shortage by incentivizing New Mexican medical school students to stay in New Mexico.
Haaland will always make sure New Mexicans come first. Read more of her ideas below.
Haaland talks public safety, policy during Las Cruces visit
When Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland visited Las Cruces Dec. 16, she was primarily in town for a series of meetings related to public safety, but she also took meetings with local influencers to talk state politics as she continues her campaign for governor of New Mexico.
Debra Anne Haaland has spent decades breaking barriers in American public life and, more recently, pivoted from historic federal leadership to this state campaign.
A member of the Laguna Pueblo and a 35th-generation New Mexican, first rose to national prominence as one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress, representing New Mexico’s first district from 2019 to 2021. Her legislative focus ranged from environmental conservation and clean energy to addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Haaland to serve as the Secretary of the Interior. Her appointment marked another historic milestone: she became the first Native American woman to serve as a Cabinet secretary.
As head of the Interior Department, Haaland managed an agency responsible for managing public lands, federal relationships with tribal nations, national parks and wildlife refuges. She championed climate action, conservation efforts, and engagement with tribal governments, emphasizing co-stewardship agreements and historic investments in tribal infrastructure.
Her policies then, and those she is pressing in this campaign, stem from her lived experience.
“I grew up in my grandfather’s cornfield,” Haaland said. “In the summers, we’d visit our grandparents and my grandpa used to take me down to the cornfield. That’s where I learned about how important our environment is. My dad took us on hikes and walks on the beach all the time. He just thought kids should be outdoors. That’s where I got my love for the outdoors.”
The outdoors is part of Haaland’s plans when it comes to education.
“I have an idea for an every child outdoors program,” she said. “Make sure kids are getting outside and learning science.”
She also wants to see trade school education be given more attention, starting as early as middle school.
Haaland left the Interior post in January 2025 with the conclusion of the Biden administration. Now she is looking to succeed Democratic governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is term-limited.
While in Las Cruces, Haaland was talking safety as she attended a law enforcement roundtable.
“I was able to speak with some folks from the law enforcement agencies around southern New Mexico and talk about the issues that were important to them and how the state can better help them to do their jobs the best way possible,” she said. “People don’t always feel safe in their neighborhoods. How can we help law enforcement to have the tools they need to get violent criminals off our streets so we can get to the root causes of crime?”
Haaland began her political career as an organizer. She pushed for voter representation in underrepresented communities. That also comes from her own life experience.
“I was raised in a military family. My dad was a career Marine,” Haaland said. “My mom worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 25 years. She was also in the Navy. And I went to 13 public schools before I graduated.”
Haaland lost the race for lieutenant governor in 2014. That led her first to Congress and then to the Biden cabinet. Now, she wants to serve her state and bring to light the issues she feels are important, which includes public safety, but also the economy. Another thing she feels has been lost is bipartisanship.
“I passed five bills and got them signed into law by President Trump,” Haaland said. “I learned how to work across the aisle. Those were all bipartisan bills. I was on the House Armed Services Committee and we did things like helping to remove obstacles for women service members so that they could achieve the higher ranks. We passed the Native American Small Business Incubators Act. We passed the Not Invisible Act, which created a commission to study the issue of missing and murdered indigenous people.”
Haaland has a keen interest in one of the issues that is getting a lot of attention right now in New Mexico—the shrinking number of physicians in the state.
“We have lifelong New Mexicans getting their college degrees here in New Mexico and then going to medical school here in New Mexico, and then graduating medical school, where do we want them to do their residencies?” she said. “If they were born and raised here, they love New Mexico already. I think there’s a lot of things we can do to make sure that we don’t have a doctor shortage.”
As New Mexico’s 2026 gubernatorial contest unfolds, Haaland’s unique blend of historical firsts, federal leadership experience and deep roots in the state continue to shape her public image and political journey. She believes experience is her most critical attribute.