Land Commissioner race results in fight over leases to oil and gas industry

New Mexico’s political race for commissioner of public lands has turned into a debate over how much state land should be used for more oil and gas development—drilling that has sent huge sums of revenue into the state treasury.

The amount of land leases for oil and gas drilling under the administration of Democratic incumbent Stephanie Garcia Richard declined since she took office in 2019.

Opponents, Republican Jefferson Byrd and Independent Larry Market are promoting more public leasing to grow the booming oil and gas industry reported Source New Mexico.

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