The return of the Domenici Public Policy Conference in Las Cruces was met by over 700 people,
including 200 students from New Mexico State University. This Sept. 8-9 event marked the
rejuvenation of political discourse and was an intentional invitation to students to not only watch
but participate in our democratic process.
Many students, like Thomas Everson, a computer science major at NMSU, were pleased about
the emphasis made on bipartisanship.
“It was refreshing to see and hear that there are some people who are still interested in
bipartisan politics instead of the antagonistic levels of politics that are highlighted in everyday
media,” Everson said.
Everson was one of several student panelists that NMSU chose to question the speakers. They
were tasked with researching both the speaker and the topics they were presenting. Some of
the panelists did wish that student engagement will only increase in the future.
Elias Nysus, another of the student panelists, said, “For a conference that has the goal to
engage students and the local community, I didn’t always feel that we were engaged, rather, I
felt as if we were watching these politicians and speakers engage with each other. That or when
these speakers had opportunities to discuss prominent issues affecting citizens, they instead
spent that time ignoring or using those issues to self promote themselves or their business.”
Overall this should only encourage teachers and adults alike that students want to engage and
ask questions about these policies more, not only challenging themselves but lawmakers and
experts as well.
The conference began on Sept. 8 with a speech by University of Texas at El Paso President
Heather Wilson. Her speech expounded on the life of New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici and
challenged students to not just “talk about it over coffee” but to “do something about it.”
This was followed the next morning by presentations on pressing political issues.
On “The Future of Democracy,” Ambassador Chase Untermeyer provided a historical summary
of how the United States of America had been challenged over its 250 years, said
democracy is embedded culturally into its people, and encouraged us to read more history to
see how our nation got through hard times before.
Gregory Allen advocated for Artificial Intelligence and spoke on the history and development of
the technology, that it’s a tool that we should team up with. A few students said they wished the
discussion on AI had multiple speakers to provide different perspectives. None of the speakers
directly spoke about Project Jupiter, a proposed local AI data center. However, Allen spoke on
data centers in general, saying that people should demand AI centers support their community
and try to benefit from the opportunity.
Ambassador Jeff Flake told stories about his time in Türkiye and when he marooned himself on
an island, twice. This was to show the ability of bipartisanship and “soft power,” more a stance
on helping foreign nations economically through business and trade rather than military
pressure.
On the topic of “Geopolitics of Energy,” David Hill addressed students to “Go to the trouble of
thinking” and provided data and projections for energy usage. Though renewable energy is
projected to increase, fossil fuels are projected to remain and showed electricity demands are
growing.
The afternoon began with a speech from U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat who pushed for
bipartisanship and to treat people with dignity and respect. He also used this time to speak on
his plans to expand access to running water and broadband internet to communities.
Then began the candidate speeches, starting with lieutenant governor candidate Stephanie
Garcia Richard, speaking on behalf on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland, who
was not in attendance. She went over plans to improve education, emphasizing early childhood,
literacy, and teacher support. She also discussed economic plans to raise the minimum wage,
incentivize home building and a plan to help medical school graduates stay in New Mexico. She
said the top priority was affordable health care.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregory Hull also spoke on promoting education, literacy,
and proposed a sort of “GI bill” for medical students. He also showed interest in finding out what
would keep college graduates in New Mexico. Both candidates spoke on not leaving southern
New Mexico out of law discussions, however, Gregory Hull emphasized a more individualistic
approach to each community.
Next were the U.S. congressional candidates for New Mexico’s second district.
Greg Cunningham, representing the Republicans, said President Donald Trump wants to
win the districts along the southern border. Cunningham proposes plans to provide relief for
small businesses, supporting law enforcement, and holding criminals accountable. He said he
wants to build trust in institutions.
U.S. Congressman Gabe Vasquez, an NMSU graduate, returned to Las Cruces Sept. 9 to speak at the Domenci Public Policy Conference. (Dane Selters photo)
Democrat incumbent Gabe Vasquez called for lawmakers to be bipartisan and stand up to
Donald Trump while proposing plans to “modernize” the U.S. Border Patrol. He provided
thoughts on giving immigration visas to caretakers and wants to keep the talent of foreign
exchange students in New Mexico. He said Democrats are planning to have an economic
agenda, improve healthcare, and provide immigration reform.
Lastly Paul Begala, a Democrat, and Charlie Black, a Republican, spoke on the political climate and
predictions for the 2026 midterm elections. With Trump’s approval rate at 35% both of them
predicted that Republicans are in for a bad time. Both discussed how both parties will need to
make sacrifices in order to solve the nation’s debt which may mean cutting spending and adding
taxes. They also agreed bipartisanship will need to improve and suggested that members of
both parties travel together and force them to work and be together in order to build relations
across political lines. They promised young voters elections are fair and encouraged them to get
involved in campaigns.
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