From News-Bulletin reports
Five additional write-in candidates have thrown their names into the hat to be on the November ballot for local elections.
After last week’s regular filing day, two seats drew no candidates — the District 1 seat on the Belen Board of Education and one of the two at-large positions on the University of New Mexico-Valencia Advisory Board from within the Los Lunas Schools district.
That all changed this week with write-in candidates turning out for both positions.
Belen Board of Education
Orlando Santillanes, 24, filed to run for the District 1 seat. He was the only candidate to declare.
Santillanes is a Valencia High School graduate who attended college at the New Mexico Military Institute, and is the assistant manager of Noblin Funeral Service.
District 1 incumbent Max Cordova did not seek reelection.
In the race for District 2, Andrew Salas, 64, filed as a write-in candidate to run against Amanda Silva and incumbent Aubrey Tucker.
A retired New Mexico National Guard brigadier general, Salas holds a master’s degree in government studies and international relations from the Naval Post Graduate School.
Last week, Jonathan Wilson filed to run for Belen Board of Education District 3 but was disqualified because he lives in a different district.
That leaves three candidates in the race — Michael Byers, Ralph Fernandez and incumbent Larry Lindberg.
UNM-VC Advisory Board
The race for two seats on the UNM-Valencia Campus Advisory Board only drew one candidate last week, incumbent Paul Luna.
Current board member Russell Griego did not file to run again. Both of the seats are at-large within the Los Lunas Schools district.
On Tuesday, three write-in candidates filed — Torres Leyba, Richard Montgomery and Christopher Williams.
Leyba, 47, a political consultant, holds an associate degree in applied science in general studies from the University of New Mexico-Valencia.
Montgomery, 75, has a degree in business from UNM, where he graduated cum laude. He is retired from the UNM chemical and nuclear engineering department professional staff
Williams, 53, retired from the Air National Guard after 23 years of service in 2014. He is currently in his 25th year at Sandia National Laboratory, and received an associate degree in nuclear engineering from Aiken Technical College.
All write-in candidates are pending as of this time. The Valencia County Clerk will announce on Friday, Sept. 8, whether those who filed are qualified to appear on the November ballot.
Regular local elections will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.
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April 25, 2024
