05/28/2026
WARNING: long post forthcoming! But hopefully, a worthwhile read to my San Juan County and McKinley County followers. As most of you know, I've been pretty quiet on all things political because, well, who wants to hear from a former politician?!? That being said, I believe this is a contested election that is under the radar for most voters and it will have a real impact on the people and businesses across our county. And, this post is not from my perspective as a former elected official but as a CURRENT practicing attorney and business owner. So. Here it goes.
YES. I voted for Judge Stephen Wayne today. YES. I would humbly suggest, you consider doing the same. Why? New Mexico desperately needs qualified, intelligent, honest, open minded, and younger (yes I dropped the age qualifier) judges at the District Court level. Sadly, most members of the public do not understand how big of an issue this has become in New Mexico. It's not a sexy political issue. Who wants to talk about judges, particularly at the state trial court level?!? But. I can tell you from practical experience, although we all like to get fired up about the United States Supreme Court, where the real sausage is made, where decisions more consistently impact our local community, is at the District Court level. The vast majority of cases are never appealed out of the trial court level. Why does this matter? This means the judge sitting on these cases is the sole and final decision maker (other than a jury in jury trial cases, which rarely happen any more). Put another way, who you vote for regarding the District Court level does actually matter! And New Mexico has had a very, very difficult time attracting talented lawyers to join the bench. This was an issue I spent a lot of time working on in the legislature because it is a very real and a very serious problem. With Judge Wayne, I believe we have an excellent judge who should remain on the bench.
So, to the more important part--why Stephen Wayne? I have practiced law with him on the other side of cases; and, I have appeared in front of him in his capacity as District Judge. I can tell you in both scenarios I have a tremendous amount of respect for Judge Wayne. He's highly intelligent; of an even demeanor; studies and cares about the law and the rule of law; cares about getting decisions right regardless of the parties appearing before him or their lawyers; and he's younger (he's in his 40's). Why does age matter? Because when you have someone who joins the bench at his age, they will (hopefully) be there for ten, fifteen, twenty years. You don't want a judge who takes a position on the bench just to boost his retirement numbers and retire in six years. Rather, you want someone IMO who know they are committed to the bench for several years because it does take some time to become a great judge. So, from my perspective, Judge Wayne is exactly the type of judge New Mexico should be diligent in seeking. And keeping.
Now, I want to address the negative and, quite frankly, disappointing things I have seen online and in my mailbox regarding Judge Wayne. I'm sure Mr. Ned Fuller is a nice man. that having been said, I can't tell you how disappointed I have been by the mailers and talking points Mr. Fuller's campaign has been issuing. This, perhaps above all, is very concerning to me regarding someone who is to be a sitting judge. First, the disingenuous assertion that Stephen Wayne was appointed by MLG. Love or hate MLG, newsflash--literally every judicial appointment throughout our entire state since 2018 has been a MLG appointment. Why? Because she's the Governor and she's the one who constitutionally appoints judicial vacancies! The most conservative judge on planet earth would still be a MLG appointment. It's so very disingenuous to give the impression that because Judge Wayne was appointed by MLG he therefore is a secret progressive, which is what the narrative has been implying. Also. Mr. Fuller conveniently leaves out the reality that in his position as an Administrative Law Judge, he was appointed by MLG. The hypocrisy for political gain is difficult to ignore.
Next, there's an audio clip floating around about Judge Wayne. I encourage you to listen to the entire clip. If you've ever been in court, you understand how difficult it is to get criminal defendants to consistently appear for court. New Mexico's system is notoriously difficult in terms of keeping defendants incarcerated prior to trial. This is a fault of the system, not any particular judge. From my perspective, this was Judge Wayne attempting to encourage a defendant to continue to appear for scheduled court hearings. The rest is just political noise.
I'll also comment on the criticism I have seen leveled at Judge Wayne because he changed his party affiliation from Decline to State (independent) to Republican after being appointed by MLG. The argument, as best I can follow, is this is grand evidence that Judge Wayne is essentially just a closet progressive. First, I'll freely admit that I am so over there being a small group of people who put forth a litmus test for what it means to be a "true" Republican. Conservative principles are, from my perspective, what lead to the greatest liberty and freedom over and above any other political theory. That being said, I believe there is a lot of room to discuss what conservative principles are and are not. People who dismiss others as not "true" conservatives because they disagree on conservative principles are not serious people in my experience. I guess I also fail to see how changing your party affiliation from DTS to Republican is a bad thing? Do we not want a society of free thinkers who study issues and change their minds as they shift in their political thinking and perspective?
Finally, I'll add that the best judges in my perspective are lawyers who had real humans as their clients during their days as a practicing lawyer. I very much appreciate the work that prosecutors do but it is a much different role than as a judge. It's hard to replace the experience of walking an actual human client (rather than the government as your client) through a difficult scenario and/or decision. I believe these types of experiences help keep a judge grounded when he or she takes the bench, to not forget the humanity of those litigants or defendants appearing before them and that the judge's decision has a real life impact on real life humans. Judge Wayne had actual, real human clients before taking the bench.
Thanks for reading my novella on why I voted for Judge Wayne and why, I would humble submit, you should consider doing the same!
