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SANTA FE — For the two men duking it out to be New Mexico's next attorney general, politics is something of a family affair.

Sometimes, too much of one.

Republican candidate Jim Bibb's father-in-law is former Gov. and Attorney General Toney Anaya. Democratic candidate Gary King's father is former three-term Gov. Bruce King.

After growing up amid politics, Gary King admits that in 1976, he moved to Boulder, Colo., hoping to get away from politics and live in a city where no one knew him. He couldn't stay away for long.

He took a break from school in 1978 to work on one of his father's successful campaigns for governor. And before he could graduate in 1980, he was working for then-U.S. Rep. Tim Wirth's campaign in Colorado.

"In our family, we just like to get to know people a lot," King said.

King, 52, eventually served 12 years in the Legislature and has since run for governor and Congress. There's nothing wrong, he said, with being a "professional in policy."

But his opponent says that Santa Fe needs a new face, a new party, and a new approach to the Attorney General's Office that's focused on prosecuting white-collar and other types of crime.

"This isn't about me just being elected to any office. This office, that's what I'm qualified for. It's not like I've run again and again," said Bibb, 36.

The attorney general is the state's top law-enforcement officer, responsible for consumer protection, death penalty prosecution and giving legal opinions to elected officials.

So far, the race has been low-key but upbeat, with positive TV ads from both campaigns. This week, however, Bibb came out swinging with an ad suggesting King skipped votes while in office.

King and Bibb are vying to replace Democrat Patricia Madrid, who is prevented by term limits from running again and is seeking election against U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, in the U.S. House 1st Congressional district race.

Even so, Madrid is wrapped up in the King-Bibb campaign, as questions about how she handled allegations of corruption in the state Treasurer's Office have become a key campaign issue.

Bibb said government corruption is the reason he's in the race.

"What screamed at me to run for this race, is after seeing firsthand the price that Americans pay for our freedom . . . the soldiers that gave their lives in Afghanistan. I didn't watch that to see public corruption go unchecked," said Bibb, a helicopter pilot for the 717th Medical Company.

Since July, King has out-raised Bibb, $627,262 to $483,443, and has a lead in recent polls. As of Monday, King had $191,021 in the bank compared to Bibb's $143,394, although King had $200,151 in unpaid campaign debt.

Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff said King has a good shot at winning.

"If Bibb's going to make a move, it's going to have to be soon," he said. "He's got an uphill battle."

Sanderoff said voters who don't know the candidates tend to pick the candidate who matches their party.

Fifty percent of New Mexicans are registered Democrats; 33 are Republicans. The rest chose no party affiliation or a minor party.

The candidates have different qualifications for the office: Bibb is a former FBI agent, has worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and assistant district attorney and has never run for office. King is a science-minded attorney whose family name is one of the most-recognized in New Mexico.

But they have a lot in common.

Besides being related to former governors, Bibb's grandmother and Bruce King were good friends. And Bibb flew in Afghanistan with one of Gary King's cousins.

Still, the candidates disagree on some major policies:

Corruption

The case against former state Treasurer Robert Vigil, who was acquitted on 23 of 24 corruption charges last month in a retrial, is a frequent topic at the forums King and Bibb have attended.

Bibb said he got into the race to battle corruption and that Madrid didn't do enough to look into what was going on in the office.

"When you see public officials spit on the rule of law, then everything we have and cherish is undermined," he said.

King said he wasn't privy to what was going on in the Attorney General's Office.

"It appears to me that when she collected enough facts that she thought there was something actionable there, she turned it over to the FBI, which I think is appropriate.

"Did she collect the facts quickly enough? I don't know because I don't know when she knew what she knows."

Meth

Bibb would like to see a three-year mandatory jail sentence for a first-time meth trafficker.

He also said the state should focus on stopping meth from being imported across the U.S.-Mexico border.

King said he'd like to create a meth offender registry.

The public database would contain the names of people convicted of operating a meth lab or trafficking meth.

"Somebody would know if there is a meth dealer in their neighborhood," he said.

DWI

Bibb would advocate for mandatory jail time for first-time drunken drivers.

"If there aren't mandatories, a lot of times they do no jail time," he said. "People need to know if I get caught driving drunk, they will go to jail. . . . We need to be that serious about it."

King said he'd like to see a third DWI be a felony offense.

"I'd like to see us ratchet up penalties for multiple offense because I still think we're not dealing with multiple offenses very well."

Both men said they'd like to see more treatment for DWI offenders.

Sex offenders

If elected, Bibb would ask the Legislature to pass a Jessica's Law, which would lock up some first-time sex offenders for 25 years and require them to wear a GPS tracker for life.

"There are some things you shouldn't get a second bite at the apple, and this is one of them," he said.

The law would apply to people who are 18 years old or older who abuse a child 11 years or younger.

King said he'd like to see GPS trackers but fears a court wouldn't uphold it being ordered for lifetime, unless the parole is for life, which he supports.

"I think it's something you can only do during the period of parole. . . . I don't think courts would allow it to be lifetime if the period of parole isn't lifetime."

Access to public information

Bibb said state government employees often aren't as familiar as they should be with the Open Meetings Act or Inspection of Public Records Act.

"Before I change anything, I would like to make sure that (laws) on the books are enforced," he said.

King said he'd like to step up enforcement of the state's Inspection of Public Records Act.

"It should be an issue of job performance, how quickly you can deliver the records, not how long you can drag your feet."