BikeABQ Gubernatorial Survey

Besides distributed a bicycle-focused survey to the candidates running for state representative positions, BikeABQ also sent a similar survey to the gubernatorial candidates. The survey included seven open-ended questions, and their responses can be found throughout this post.

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BikeABQ is a 501c3 nonprofit, and hence cannot offer endorsements of candidates. We provide this candidate survey to help give voters information about where the various candidates stand on issues related to transportation, bicycling, and safe streets. The fact that one candidate may have responded to our survey where another candidate did not should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any kind.

Response Lookup Table:

Survey Questions:

1. Do you bike in New Mexico? Describe your experience biking for transportation and/or recreation.

2. Last year, Gov. Lujan Grisham's signing message for SB 73 (increased driver education requirements) stated that "more needs to be done to limit the loss of life on the road in New Mexico," especially when it comes to the behavior of currently-licensed drivers. What legislation or policies would you pursue to promote and enforce safer driving behaviors among New Mexicans? 

3. Speeding fines and other traffic penalties in New Mexico are substantially lower than those in surrounding states, while New Mexico continues to have some of the highest traffic fatality rates in the nation. What would you like to see changed about the enforcement and penalties for traffic violations in New Mexico?

4. This federal administration has restricted and reversed funding for bicycle infrastructure across the country, especially targeting communities like New Mexico and Albuquerque. What role should the state play in supporting bicycle infrastructure projects during this period of limited federal funding?

   
   

   Please indicate your willingness to support the following legislative actions to support traffic safety and bicycle infrastructure:

   
   

5. Revising the speed camera legislation to enable local jurisdictions, like Albuquerque, to retain 100% of automated speed enforcement (speed camera) revenue, provided it is spent on traffic safety improvements?

6. Increasing penalties for traffic violations like missing license plates, improper parking, and speeding?

7. Codifying the New Mexico Department of Transportation's Target Zero initiative that orients transportation projects towards the goal of zero traffic fatalities?

Candidate Survey Responses

Deb Haaland

1. Do you bike in New Mexico? Describe your experience biking for transportation and/or recreation.

I grew up outdoors. I hiked with my brother and sisters, ran the mesas at Laguna with my cousins, and spent summers working in my grandfather’s cornfield. I am an avid hiker, and I also cycle for recreation. Bicycling was one of my favorite pastimes during the height of COVID especially.

In Congress I cosponsored the Bicycle Commuter Act, which would have restored the tax benefit for people who ride to work, and I cosponsored a resolution supporting Bike to Work Day. As Secretary of the Interior, I designated more than 30 new National Recreation Trails, many of them built for cyclists, and I stood with the Secretary of Transportation to announce a trail rebuild designed around the safety of people walking and riding. Throughout my time in public service, I have supported biking for transportation and for recreation, and I will continue to do so as Governor.

2. Last year, Gov. Lujan Grisham's signing message for SB 73 (increased driver education requirements) stated that "more needs to be done to limit the loss of life on the road in New Mexico," especially when it comes to the behavior of currently-licensed drivers. What legislation or policies would you pursue to promote and enforce safer driving behaviors among New Mexicans? 

I will pursue initiatives to make our roads safer for everyone and to reduce danger from people behind the wheel. New Mexico’s new requirement that driver education cover sharing the road with cyclists and pedestrians takes effect January 1, 2027, the day the next governor takes office. I intend to deliver on it fully. I also agree with Governor Lujan Grisham’s statement in her signing message that fatalities involving vulnerable road users because of existing drivers must be addressed “more comprehensively,” and I hope to work with the Legislature to do that. 

My administration will back the transportation projects with the highest safety return. My Safe Roads Initiative will repair the deteriorating roads and shoulders that cyclists and drivers use every day. Impaired driving is one of the biggest dangers on our roads, and I will expand the treatment courts, behavioral health access, and recovery services laid out in my public safety plan. I have been transparent about my journey with alcohol addiction and the more than 35 years of sobriety I have achieved, and I know what recovery makes possible.

A road is only as safe as it is for the person walking or riding along it. In Congress, I cosponsored the Vision Zero Act, which would have let states use federal highway safety funding for local plans to eliminate traffic fatalities. I support efforts that follow this same principle.

3. Speeding fines and other traffic penalties in New Mexico are substantially lower than those in surrounding states, while New Mexico continues to have some of the highest traffic fatality rates in the nation. What would you like to see changed about the enforcement and penalties for traffic violations in New Mexico?

New Mexico’s traffic penalties are among the lowest in the country. That disparity deserves a serious look, and I will work with the Legislature and with law enforcement to do that. Any change has to make our roads safer and deter driving behaviors that put people in the hospital, without falling hardest on New Mexicans who are already struggling to get by. I will also aim to make more traffic safety data public, so New Mexicans can see what is working.

4. This federal administration has restricted and reversed funding for bicycle infrastructure across the country, especially targeting communities like New Mexico and Albuquerque. What role should the state play in supporting bicycle infrastructure projects during this period of limited federal funding?

Governors are the first line of defense against the cuts and destructive policies of the Trump administration. New Mexico has to fill the gaps the federal government is creating, including for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure investments. I will put the state’s existing tools to work, and I will help cities, Tribes, and Pueblos that lack the staff to chase federal grants. I will make sure the Department of Transportation accounts for people on foot and on bikes, and I will work with the Legislature to explore dedicated state support.

5. Revising the speed camera legislation to enable local jurisdictions, like Albuquerque, to retain 100% of automated speed enforcement (speed camera) revenue, provided it is spent on traffic safety improvements?

I am open to the possibility of letting cities keep more of what their fines generate , as long as every dollar goes to traffic safety and the state can verify it. But I would want to work through the budgetary and safety effects with the Legislature and with municipalities before committing to a specific plan.

6. Increasing penalties for traffic violations like missing license plates, improper parking, and speeding?

I am open to increasing penalties that will enhance safety and deter dangerous behavior. I would want to make these decisions in a data-driven, rigorous way, and I will seek the information necessary to find out what works, while taking steps to avoid regressive burdens.

7. Codifying the New Mexico Department of Transportation's Target Zero initiative that orients transportation projects towards the goal of zero traffic fatalities?

Yes. As I noted above, in Congress, I cosponsored the Vision Zero Act, which would have let states use federal highway safety funding for local plans to eliminate traffic fatalities. Target Zero moves us toward the same goals. I am in favor of taking steps to codify Target Zero and to pursue its goals.

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Gregg Hull

1. Do you bike in New Mexico? Describe your experience biking for transportation and/or recreation.

I'll be straightforward with you: I'm not a regular cyclist, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise to

answer a survey. What I do know is how to build roads that cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers

can all share safely. In my 12 years as mayor of Rio Rancho, we rebuilt a large share of the

city's road network, and any time we took on major road work, we added bike lanes wherever

we could. When we reconstructed Rainbow Boulevard, for example, we built a dedicated

multi-modal trail into the project instead of leaving it for later. Designing safety in from the start is

cheaper and it works better, and that is how I would approach it as Governor.

2. Last year, Gov. Lujan Grisham's signing message for SB 73 (increased driver education requirements) stated that "more needs to be done to limit the loss of life on the road in New Mexico," especially when it comes to the behavior of currently-licensed drivers. What legislation or policies would you pursue to promote and enforce safer driving behaviors among New Mexicans? 

The Governor is right. Driver education for new drivers only reaches part of the problem. Most of

the danger on our roads comes from licensed drivers who know the rules and break them

anyway, through impaired driving, excessive speeding, and distracted driving. New Mexico has

struggled with drunk driving for decades, and I would start there, with swift, certain

consequences for repeat offenders and real follow-through on the sanctions already on the

books.

Laws only work if they're enforced. As mayor of Rio Rancho, I doubled our police budget,

because you can't ask officers to take on traffic enforcement when they're stretched thin

responding to everything else. As Governor, I'll make sure State Police and local departments

have the staffing to put officers back on our most dangerous corridors. I'll also push NMDOT to

focus safety dollars on the specific roads and intersections where people are dying, using crash

data rather than politics to set priorities.

3. Speeding fines and other traffic penalties in New Mexico are substantially lower than those in surrounding states, while New Mexico continues to have some of the highest traffic fatality rates in the nation. What would you like to see changed about the enforcement and penalties for traffic violations in New Mexico?

A fine only changes behavior if drivers believe they will actually get one. Certainty of

enforcement matters more than the size of the penalty, so my first priority is consistent

enforcement. That said, I support raising penalties for the most dangerous behavior, such as

excessive speeding and speeding in school and work zones, so New Mexico isn't an outlier

compared with our neighbors.

I have direct experience with this. Rio Rancho used automated speed enforcement throughout

my time as mayor, and we modernized and expanded the program before I left office. Every

citation is reviewed by a sworn officer before it goes out, the program costs taxpayers nothing,

and the city's share of the revenue goes back into public safety. The guardrail I care about is

that traffic enforcement has to be about safety, not about balancing a budget. Done that way, it

saves lives and it keeps public trust.

4. This federal administration has restricted and reversed funding for bicycle infrastructure across the country, especially targeting communities like New Mexico and Albuquerque. What role should the state play in supporting bicycle infrastructure projects during this period of limited federal funding?

Federal funding rises and falls with every administration, and New Mexico can't build a safe

transportation system that depends on Washington's priorities in a given year. The state's job is

to get the most safety out of every dollar we already spend. The most effective way to do that is

to build bike and pedestrian safety into road projects from the start, when it costs a fraction of

what a retrofit costs later. That was our practice in Rio Rancho. When we did major road work,

we added bike lanes wherever the project allowed it. As Governor, I'll make that standard

practice at NMDOT.

I would also bring more discipline to how New Mexico funds local infrastructure. Too much of our

capital outlay gets spread thin across small projects that never get finished. I'd rather see the

state partner with cities like Albuquerque on fewer, complete, well-planned projects on the

corridors with the highest crash rates, so the money actually results in something people can

safely use.

5. Revising the speed camera legislation to enable local jurisdictions, like Albuquerque, to retain 100% of automated speed enforcement (speed camera) revenue, provided it is spent on traffic safety improvements?

Yes, with accountability. Local governments know their own streets better than Santa Fe does,

and money raised from local enforcement should stay local. But I'd keep independent audits and

public reporting in place, so residents can see that every dollar goes to traffic safety and that

cameras are placed where crashes happen, not where revenue is easiest to collect.

6. Increasing penalties for traffic violations like missing license plates, improper parking, and speeding?

Yes on speeding, especially excessive speeding and school and work zones, and yes on

missing license plates, which undermine both camera enforcement and ordinary police work.

Parking rules are best set by local governments, and I'd leave those decisions to them.

7. Codifying the New Mexico Department of Transportation's Target Zero initiative that orients transportation projects towards the goal of zero traffic fatalities?

Yes. Zero deaths is the right goal. If it's put into law, it should come with measurable annual

benchmarks and public reporting, so the Legislature and the public can judge whether NMDOT's

projects are actually reducing deaths, not just meeting a goal on paper.

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