Morgan Lee
Position: The Associated Press

New Mexico races to spend federal rental assistance

SANTA FE – State agencies spent federal pandemic aid at a furious pace during the month of August, channeling about $630 million in efforts to bolster unemployment reserves, provide emergenc...

Native Americans aim to boost voting power in New Mexico

SANTA FE – A coalition of Native American communities has proposed redrawing New Mexico’s political map to boost Indigenous voters’ influence in elections. The proposed changes from New Mexi...

Native Americans draft redistricting proposals in New Mexico

Tribes seek greater self-determination in future elections

New Mexico plots greater spending, from tuition to Medicaid

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An expansion of nonmerit scholarships to college and greater spending to safeguard abandoned oil wells in New Mexico are among the governor's new spending priorities, amid a windfall in state income linked to federal pandemic relief and petroleum production.

New Mexico sets rules to launch pandemic debt collection

SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico’s court system is taking steps to ease financial upheaval as the state braces for a wave of foreclosures on delinquent mortgage loans and the state phases out a m...

New Mexico defends title as most Latino state in nation

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has retained its title as the nation's most heavily Hispanic state, with 47.7% of respondents to the 2020 census identifying ancestry linked to Latin America and other Spanish-speaking areas.

New Mexico shrinks reliance on for-profit prison operators

SANTA FE – New Mexico is on the cusp of finalizing prison takeovers that will reduce private prison operations to 25% of inmate beds, amid a plunge in prison population numbers statewide. Co...

New Mexico tries carrot-stick approach to boost vaccination

SANTA FE – The state of New Mexico moved forward Monday with a carrot-and-stick approach to immunizations against COVID-19 with a renewed $100 payout to newly vaccinated residents. That $100...

New Mexico rolls out same-day voter registration program

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democrat-backed efforts to expand voter access in New Mexico are coming to fruition, with the rollout of same-day voter registration this month.

Governor settled harassment claim to focus on pandemic

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday defended her handling of accusations of harassment by a former campaign spokesman that resulted in a financial settlement of at least $62,500 in payments from her political campaign, explaining that the pandemic demanded her attention.

Special House election in New Mexico measures political pulse after Trump

SANTA FE – A special congressional election is checking the political pulse of politics across the Albuquerque metro area and a few outlying rural communities in one of the few House campaig...

New Mexico proposes new rules for recreational pot growers

SANTA FE – New Mexico on Tuesday took its first major regulatory steps toward legal production of recreational marijuana, publishing lengthy proposed ground rules for cannabis businesses th...