Ray Powell announces his bid to challenge incumbent Patrick Lyons

Staff and Wire Reports
Santa Fe New Mexican--Thursday, November 17, 2005

Former two-term state Land Commissioner Ray Powell Jr. announced Wednesday he is running again.

Powell, a Democrat, first was appointed land commissioner in May 1993 by then-Gov. Bruce King. He subsequently was elected to two four-year terms, then was barred from running again in 2002 because of the state's limit of two consecutive terms.

"I decided to run again because the current administration at the Land Office is not providing the leadership or vision to optimize and position the trust for the future," Powell said.

Incumbent Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons, a Republican who is seeking re-election, said Wednesday, "If Mr. Powell wins the primary, I'll be more than willing to compare our record of accomplishment during my first three years in office to Mr. Powell's 10 years."

So far, Powell is the only Democrat to declare his candidacy in the race.

State Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, had been considering running for land commissioner again, but has decided to support Powell. "As far as I can see, there won't be a bloody primary, and I believe Ray will go on to win (the general election)." McSorley ran in 2002, but lost to former Santa Fe Mayor Art Trujillo in the Democratic primary. Trujillo went on to lose the general election to Lyons, the only Republican that year to win a statewide race.

The land commissioner oversees 9 million acres of state trust land and 13 million acres of subsurface mineral rights.

Royalties earned on trust lands are paid to the Land Grant Permanent Fund, which supports education. In fiscal 2005, royalty earnings generated nearly $321 million.

"It is critical to use this time, when nonrenewable resources are abundant, to reposition the trust for a bright future that is not wholly dependent on these types of nonrenewable resources," Powell said. "Business as usual is totally unacceptable."

Powell, veterinarian by profession, stepped down in September as director of the Valles Caldera National Preserve Trust after about a year in the post. "I discovered that I enjoy creating policy and administering it," he said at the time.

Powell had hinted in September that he would run, criticizing the Land Office's handling of a sand-and-gravel mine on state trust land at Velarde. Velarde residents contend the Land Office illegally awarded a five-year mining lease to Coppola Mining of Santa Fe.

Powell was in office when Espaņola businessman Richard Cook mined his Velarde property next to state trust land, leaving a 150-foot cliff. Powell's office sued to force Cook to take responsibility for the damage.

Lyons, however, dropped that lawsuit, saying he decided to take care of the cliff by awarding a lease to mine the neighboring trust land. "Under Ray Powell's watch, a dangerous and unsightly high wall loomed over the village of Velarde," Lyons said Wednesday. "I promised to take it down and reclaim the area, and that is exactly what I'm doing." Critics contend the cliff was merely an excuse to open the site to mining.

Powell said Wednesday that he wants to reinstate a policy in which the Land Office works with community representatives in long-term planning for state land.

Unable to run for a third consecutive term for land commissioner in 2002, Powell briefly ran for governor. However, after a poor showing at the state Democratic pre-primary convention - which gave Bill Richardson about 75 percent of the vote - Powell dropped out of the race.

His father, Ray Powell Sr., was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1986.