By Florian Knowles | KUNM News
State Representative Joseph Hernandez (D- Shiprock) dropped out of his re-election bid for New Mexico’s 4th district, according to a statement on social media and the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website. This comes after last weekend’s news of a newly released but heavily redacted police report suggesting the freshman representative was involved in an incident at a Chicago hotel last month. Although Representative Hernandez initially summed up the incident as a “negative interaction,” the police report said a man – now understood to be Hernandez – ran around the hotel naked and knocked on doors in the middle of the night.
Before dropping out of the race, Hernandez issued an apology saying he takes full responsibility for his actions and is seeking help with his relationship with alcohol.
“At this time, I believe the best decision for me and those I love is to focus on my health and my family, while continuing to serve the community that entrusted me with this office through the remainder of my term,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said he would not speak any more about the situation for privacy reasons.
When the details of the incident with Hernandez emerged, many urged for him to be transparent about the details of the incident. His opponent Heather Ellsion called for him to take accountability. New Mexico Sen. Jim Townsend (R-Artesia), called for Hernandez to drop out.
The deadline to replace a post-primary candidate was August 25. Anthony Allison, who held the seat until 2024 when he decided not to run for reelection, filed to run that day. But according to the Secretary of State website, Allison was disqualified and the reasons for his disqualification are not yet clear. Assuming there’s no replacement, New Mexico Republicans are guaranteed to gain the 4th district seat and so have a better chance at keeping Democrats from getting a supermajority in November’s election.
Florian Knowles is a recent graduate of the University of New Mexico, majoring in Journalism and Mass Communications. His previous journalistic experience includes being a student reporter for KUNM, an audience engagement intern at Chalkbeat and a research intern for the New Mexico Local News Map. He comes to KUNM through the New Mexico Local News Fellowships and Internships program. Florian can be contacted at florianknowles@kunm.org
This story was originally published by KUNM News.
