Democrat Fred Ponzlov and independent candidate Zach Withers are vying to knock Republican incumbent Stefani Lord out of office in the race for House District 22. Lord, who lives in the East Mountains, was elected to the seat in 2020. This is one of the few races during New Mexico’s 2024 election season where three candidates are running against each other.
Democratic candidate Fred Ponzlov said he is not sure how having an independent candidate on the ballot will affect the election results, but he supports opening the state’s primaries to voters who are not registered Democrat or Republican.
“It all depends on if any of Stefani Lord’s Republican base vote for Zach Withers who is a really nice guy. I would be thrilled if he won,” Ponzlov said. “If the Republicans are tired enough of Stefani to vote for an independent, I think I’d have a chance. There’s so much fabrication going on and lying going on, it’s hard to sort through it.”
Lord, however, said she stands with the current primary system and thinks it’s important for candidates to choose a party, ensuring they receive adequate representation in the election. While she agrees that having an independent on the ticket will split the vote, it won’t affect the number of votes she receives.
“I think the independent will pull more votes away from the Democrat based on the things that he has said, and his opinions on politics,” she said. “I don’t wanna minimize the fact that if an independent wants to run they should be running under an independent ticket.”
Withers said when he submitted his ballot petition, he was told he was the only independent running in the surrounding eight districts, and he has gotten the impression from speaking to many people in the community that he will likely split both the Democratic and Republican vote.
“Our district was extremely gerrymandered in the last redistricting,” Withers said. “It is one of the most reliably conservative districts in the state. While I grew up in a very conservative, Christian, military household, I do not at all support the current position the Republican Party is taking. I am also not at all aligned with the Democratic Party on the issues that I am running on.”
Ponzlov said that one of the major issues that needs to be addressed in District 22 is illiteracy, and that education is key to reducing crime in New Mexico.
“Seventy-five percent of all the people [committing] crimes in Albuquerque are high school dropouts. Seventy-six percent of all incarcerated are high school dropouts. So what does that tell you? Keep these kids in school, find a way to make them interested in getting a high school degree,” Ponzlov said. “Now the Republicans will say, ‘Shoot them, give them longer jail sentences.’ That’s not gonna fix a thing. You have to be proactive, not reactive.”
Ponzlov said Lord has some ideas and plans that are dangerous to New Mexicans, especially her stance on Second Amendment rights.
“She wants to get rid of all background checks for guns,” Ponzlov said. “So someone could get out of prison on a Tuesday, buy their AK-47 on a Wednesday and kill someone on Thursday.”
Lord’s campaign website says she is running for reelection “to continue the fight against radical left-wing policies that do not represent New Mexicans or our values. Over the past two years, she has seen outside money flowing into our state given to radicals who present extremist bills that harm the people of our state and our way of life.”
She said that the East Mountains are a complicated area with overlapping bipartisan issues, like crime and even human trafficking.
“We have literal Chinese slaves working out in the marijuana grow, and that needs to be addressed. So I’m in the middle of working on that with Democrats right now,” Lord said. “We have water issues, we have got roads that aren’t paved, we have rumble strips. We have a lot of issues that are unique specifically to the East Mountains that I look forward to working on in the next session.”
If elected, Withers said he will concentrate on resolving pressing environmental crises and providing a better future for New Mexicans in the district.
“Our community is facing existential challenges when it comes to long-term water supply, threat of catastrophic wildfire, and a two-dimensional local economy that further exacerbates those two issues,” Withers said. “Failure to address these issues in a meaningful way has the potential to cause permanent harm that will last for many generations to come. I do not think that either of my opponents has the knowledge, capacity, or will to take these issues on in a meaningful way.”
Withers said that he plans to focus on these issues rather than pushing a partisan agenda.
“It would be the first time in six years that we would have someone who is from here representing everyone in our district, instead of someone who moved here to benefit from the political makeup of our district.” Withers said. “It would also sideline the toxic partisan politics for the time being and help people focus on the issues that affect everyone and work towards solutions.”
Lord said that as the election draws near, she spends a good chunk of her day knocking on doors and talking to voters.
“I worked 95 houses yesterday,” she said. “I’m just trying to run my race and represent the people. As you know, with elections things get ugly, but I haven’t said anything bad about Fred or Zach.”
Both candidates running against Lord agree that District 22 could use some new leadership.
“If I won, there’d be hope in the world,” Ponzlov said.
