NMiF election coverage 2026: Public lands commissioner

This week, New Mexico in Focus continues its election coverage with the race for commissioner of public lands. Correspondent Gwyneth Doland sits down with both candidates, Republican Michael Perry and Democrat Juan De Jesus Sanchez, to discuss a long list of issues facing the Land Office: oil and gas, Project Jupiter, uranium mining and President Trump.

This fall, voters will consider four amendments to the state Constitution. If approved, one would establish lawmaker salaries, bringing New Mexico in line with the other 49 states, which already pay their legislators. A former state senator and policy advocate spoke with Executive Producer Jeff Proctor about the amendment.

Two decades ago, officials in Utah and Texas introduced Tamarisk Beetles as part of a bio-control experiment meant to thin out invasive tamarisk trees in their states. Today, those beetles have made a home for themselves along the Rio Grande in New Mexico.

Freelance environmental journalist and NMiF Correspondent Elizabeth Miller takes us near La Joya, about an hour south of Albuquerque, to follow researchers who have monitored the beetles for years. This story comes courtesy of Miller's reporting for bioGraphic, an independent magazine focused on biodiversity and conservation worldwide.

NMiF airs on NMPBS 5.1 (KNME HD) on Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 11 at 7 a.m. and streaming on the PBS video app. Involved, informed, in-depth media: watch New Mexico in Focus again online shortly thereafter.

Host
Nash Jones

Segments
Michael Perry on Project Jupiter, Oil Production Near Schools
Correspondent
Gwyneth Doland

Guest
Michael Perry, Republican nominee for commissioner of public lands

Juan De Jesus Sanchez III on Protecting State Land, Accepting Oil and Gas Money
Correspondent
Gwyneth Doland

Guest
Juan De Jesus Sanchez III, Democratic nominee for commissioner of public lands

Voters Will Decide Whether to Pay State Legislators a Salary
Correspondent
Jeff Proctor

Guests
Oriana Sandoval, CEO, Center for Civic Policy
Mark Boitano, Republican former state senator

Tamarisk Beetle Bio-Control Program Falls Short
Correspondent
Elizabeth Miller

Guests
Kim Eichhorst, program director, Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program,
Matt Leister, science director, Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program
Matthew Johnson, Colorado Plateau Research Station director

New Mexico in Focus is the New Mexico PBS prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues, and people shaping life in New Mexico and the Southwest. NMiF takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic, educational, and art issues, exploring them in depth with a critical eye to provide context beyond the "news of the moment."

NMPBS Executive Producer, Public Affairs, is Jeff Proctor. New Mexico in Focus's senior producer for public affairs is Lou DiVizio. Host and producer of New Mexico in Focus is Nash Jones. Antonio Sanchez is the producer, and Cailley Chella is the multimedia journalist.

Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by the McCune Charitable Foundation and Viewers Like You. Funding for the Your New Mexico Government Project comes from the Thornburg Foundation and New Mexico Local News Fund. Funding for Our Land: New Mexico's Environmental Past, Present & Future is provided in part by the Neeper Natural History Programming.