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Today The Tribune continues its endorsements in the Nov. 7 general election. We are endorsing only in contested races in which Bernalillo County voters have a say.

State House races

District 14

Miguel Garcia, Democrat

This race between the incumbent, Garcia, and his redoubtable opponent has been run before, with predictable results.

Garcia, the Democrat, is likely to win again in this heavily Democratic district. More important, however, is that he is qualified to serve his district. He not only has been District 14's representative since taking office in 1997, he also has a years-long record of volunteering and advocating for his community before his first election. At the Legislature, Garcia has been a leader in land-grant advocacy; passed bills benefiting veterans, alternative energy experimentation and immigrants; pressed for South Valley road and sewer improvements; supported law-enforcement efforts in his district; come to the aid of senior citizens; and pushed for funding for a South Valley multipurpose center.

He's in the best position to do his district the most good.

District 15

Traci Jo Cadigan, Democrat

The District 15 contest between two very sharp candidates gives us an opportunity to recommend someone whose views more closely reflect what The Tribune argues is best for the district and the state.

Political party registration in this district appears more closely balanced than it's ever been. Meanwhile, Cadigan, the challenger, appears to be more moderate than other Democrats who have run for this seat in the past. This takes some of the edge from the four-year Republican incumbent, whom we've endorsed previously for being more in step with the district than her opponents were.

More significantly, Cadigan is a strong supporter of using developer-paid impact fees to put public services where they belong - ahead of (not behind) development on the booming West Side. This is a major concern for The Tribune. Also, she is a firm proponent of minimum-wage hikes, which The Tribune supports on a statewide basis.

Cadigan also has an excellent background in financial services, volunteerism and education advocacy. Among her contributions are service as executive director for the Children's Cancer Fund of New Mexico, director of the Albuquerque Rape Crisis Center, parent-leader in her children's schools and president of her neighborhood association.

Voters have a no-lose decision in this race. We believe Cadigan offers the district a bit more.

District 16

Antonio "Moe" Maestas, Democrat

Maestas' record demonstrates the most interest in public service, and he has the most relevant political experience in this race against a younger opponent.

Maestas, an attorney with a degree in political science, is a former assistant district attorney who prosecuted DWIs and domestic violence. His roster of volunteer involvements - in urban planning, social justice and other forms of advocacy in schools he has attended and communities in which he has lived - is extensive and impressive. He has run credibly for office before and has additionally proved his commitment to political life by volunteering in the Democratic Party.

Maestas has seemed to The Tribune to have high energy, excellent values and great promise as a representative in local or state government. He is definitely the best option in this race.

District 18

Gail Chasey, Democrat

Chasey, formerly and probably better recognized as Gail Beam, is well known to her district after serving it for 10 years in the Legislature. Her excellent progressive values on health care, education, women, children and more are in synch with what surely is one of the most progressive districts in the state. (District 18 encompasses the University of New Mexico.)

Chasey is a longtime educator with a doctorate in special education. Her r‚sum‚ includes work at the UNM Health Sciences Center. She is in her second year at law school - an education that should help her serve her constituents even better.

There are many good reasons Chasey has been re-elected so often. They hold up as arguments for electing her again.

District 19

Sheryl Williams-Stapleton, Democrat

The District 19 race is yet another reprise of an election contest between Williams-Stapleton and an opponent she has faced several times before.

Apparently voters in her district, which has elected her to six consecutive terms, are happy with the job she's doing. We presume she'll perform with similarly satisfactory results this next term.

District 22

Kathy McCoy, Republican

McCoy, the incumbent, was appointed to her seat in late 2004, won her first election later that year and now is running for her second full term. This gives her a broad lead in this race in legislative experience.

To that, she can add 12 years of active involvement in her community via her co-founding and participation in the East Mountain Legal Defense Fund, which is noted for such efforts as opposing the construction of an East Mountain Wal-Mart and otherwise fighting overdevelopment of the rustic east side of the Sandias.

McCoy describes herself as a moderate Republican, and her interests and positions reflect this. For example, besides her concerns about Wal-Mart and inappropriate overdevelopment, she carried and passed "Scooby's Law," intended to protect animals from drinking antifreeze, and is interested in promoting humane treatment of animals. She is a proponent of alternative energy research and development and ethical and open government. She listens well to the diverse voices in her district.

We see little advantage to District 22 in replacing McCoy with a candidate who is likely to share many of McCoy's positions.

District 23

Eric A. Youngberg, Republican

Youngberg is the Republican incumbent, running for his third term representing this predominately Republican district.

Active in real estate and development in the district, Youngberg is the rare, if not the only, Republican attorney in the House and the rare, if not the only, certified public accountant in the entire Legislature. He supports a number of measures - to a degree - that The Tribune believes are important, such as the imposition of development impact fees. He knows his issues and how to deal with them effectively.

His positions appear to be largely agreeable to his district, and he provides a competent check on the Democratic-controlled Legislature and the predominately Democratic state government.

District 24

Janice Arnold-Jones, Republican

Both candidates in this race are accomplished and agreeable. But Arnold-Jones, now running for her third term, racks up more experience as a legislator - of which her opponent has none. Arnold-Jones also has previous experience lobbying legislatures.

A longtime small-business entrepreneur, Arnold-Jones is the Albuquerque manager of an environmental engineering company that deals, among other things, with nuclear safety - a useful background in an atomic state. She also once started an audio-visual production company and is experienced in information technology - one of many waves of the future for New Mexico.

Her volunteer background - usually a good indicator of public-service acumen - is inspiring. For one example, from 1997 to 2005, she headed the American Youth Soccer Organization in Albuquerque - a Herculean task.

We especially appreciate Arnold-Jones' instinct and practice of examining proposed legislation in detail and asking tough, pertinent questions about it. In doing so, she has helped make the Legislature and state laws better. She should be allowed to continue to contribute in this manner.

District 28

Jimmie Hall, Republican

Hall, running for his second term, is an exceptional legislator for this neck of the desert. His background is impressive and gives him the potential to serve the city well.

Hall was born and bred in the depths of the Texas Panhandle and has retained the accent to prove it. With a master's in agriculture from then-West Texas State University, he worked in Texas for many years as a Farm Credit Association financial official and manager.

He moved to Albuquerque in 1989 to head up the Production Credit Association, a farm-credit operation with a statewide reach. Traveling extensively around the state, he genuinely fell in love with it.

Naturally inquisitive, Hall got hold of a copy of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and began studying land grants intensively - as well as the state's acequia system, water-rights issues and American Indian cultures, in which he continues to take a huge interest.

He has served for five years as executive director of the N.M. 4-H Youth Development Foundation, where he still works part time, as a member of the N.M. Livestock Board and as a member of the N.M. Drought Task Force.

Hall says he enjoys working with legislators who have different views, which is a good sign of balance. But his greatest virtue for Albuquerque is his versatility. The stereotype is that Albuquerque is not well liked in Santa Fe by legislators from rural areas. Hall understands rural issues better than most and has the promise to be a conduit between urban and rural interests. It's a promise we'd like to see him have a chance to fulfill.

District 29

Thomas Anderson, Republican

Anderson's advantage in this race is experience.

He has represented District 29 for two terms in the Legislature, after having been involved as a volunteer in his neighborhood association and charitable groups for years before that. He has some interesting accomplishments, including legislation to fight identity theft and efforts to supply law-enforcement agencies with portable defibrillators.

The 73-year-old retired naval officer - an engineer with nuclear experience - also has lived a full life and has the time to devote to the job.

Anderson believes he works well with Democratic lawmakers - a practical asset in a Legislature controlled by the other party.

His experience should serve his district well.

District 30

Justine Fox-Young, Republican

Fox-Young, the youngest woman ever elected to the state Legislature, already has demonstrated an impressive interest in and commitment to political service.

She has served one term representing District 30. But Fox-Young, a financial systems analyst, also worked as a budget analyst for the Legislative Finance Committee and earned a bachelor's in public policy from Brown University.

Her views appear to reflect her district's.

She is dedicated and energetic and part of a younger generation of Republicans that needs to gain experience to take their elders' places.

District 31

Bill Rehm, Republican

Rehm is what you might call the Lone Ranger of the Legislature. We can't think of another legislator who has as much, if any, law enforcement experience as Rehm, a retired, longtime Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputy.

Lawmakers love to pass bills that suggest they're tough on crime. But police and deputies often have trouble enforcing them on the street. Rehm is a valuable resource for making sure crime-related laws work.

Also, as the Republican in this predominately Republican district, Rehm should represent his district's views well.

District 44

Jane Powdrell-Culbert, Republican

Powdrell, the incumbent running for her second term, is in many ways the ideal candidate for public office.

Before taking the District 44 seat, she logged more than 40 years of community involvement and volunteerism, which translates well into legislative service.

Her track record of dignified, graceful commitment to public life is not even nearly matched in this race. Voters would be best served by electing her again.

District 60

Thomas Swisstack, Democrat

Swisstack has tremendous advantages in experience and legislative savvy in this race between two former Rio Rancho mayors.

Lately the director of the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center, Swisstack also was a three-term Sandoval County Commission member, mayor of Rio Rancho and already two-term representative to the New Mexico Legislature.

He genuinely cares about young people in trouble - a huge public concern in New Mexico - and his expertise in handling them is an enormous asset to the Legislature. He also is a consensus-oriented, collaborative team player - a necessary quality, we believe, to succeed in behalf of his district and state.

Swisstack knows his district thoroughly and has a proven track record of representing it well. We recommend that voters return him to office for a third term.

Wednesday: The Tribune recommends in statewide races for attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, land commissioner and the Public Regulation Commission's District 4.