The Food Depot 2026 Candidate Questionnaire
House District 40 Primary Candidates
In support of voter education and as a 501(c)(3), food banks can create, distribute, and publish a candidate questionnaire. The Food Depot cannot support or oppose candidates for office or coordinate activities with political campaigns
This campaign season, The Food Depot created a food-security questionnaire and sent questions to candidates running for NM governor, Lt. governor, and candidates in contested House district races in our service area. We’re grateful to candidates who took time to participate.
All responses have been unedited and we are sharing them so you can read directly from the candidates on positions related to a healthy, hunger-free New Mexico.
Question 1: The work of New Mexico’s food banks is currently supported partially by GRO funds through the action of the legislature. Given all the demands on state resources, how, if you choose to do so, will you commit to supporting state funding for New Mexico’s food banks in the 2027 state legislative budget?
Rep. Joseph Sanchez: No response submitted.
Dr. Nancy Wright: I believe funding food banks and improving support to WIC and SNAP are good investments with dependable returns. I would support both increasing the state’s funding support to food banks as well as making the funds recurring. This is more important now as the amount of money the federal government contributes will likely decrease. Also, private donations from citizens will probably decrease as well, as inflation causes prices to increase.
Question 2: In seven New Mexico counties, 40-100% of the population lives in a food desert (limited or no access to grocery stores). How would you approach ensuring that the people in those communities have access to food? (Counties are Harding, Catron, DeBaca, McKinley, Rio Arriba, Colfax, Doña Ana, highest to lowest.)
Rep. Joseph Sanchez: No response submitted.
Dr. Nancy Wright: Because grocery stores are private businesses, it is not politically palatable for the state to force grocery stores to open or remain open in food deserts. County-run or state-run grocery stores, along the lines of what Mayor Zohran Mamdani suggests in New York, are an interesting idea to look into, as well as supporting mobile food distribution in rural areas. Another idea I have heard of is allowing hunters to donate meat from their kills to food banks, and distributing more hunting tags to incentivize this.
Question 3: NM Grown provides state funding to schools, child care centers, senior centers, and food banks to purchase locally grown foods from NM farmers and producers. In FY25, the program generated $7.05 million in total economic output. How would you support the expansion of NM Grown or expand selling opportunities for NM producers?
Rep. Joseph Sanchez: No response submitted.
Dr. Nancy Wright: NM Grown is a great idea and as a legislator I would support continuing this program. Despite working at a federally qualified health center and having my children attend public school in Las Vegas, I had not heard of this program before. I would be in favor of continuing and expanding NM Grown to new areas.
Question 4: In New Mexico, nearly 615,000 households are struggling to make ends meet, despite being employed. These are healthcare aides, grocery store associates, restaurant staff, and other essential workers who make too much to qualify for assistance programs but not enough to survive. What interventions would you consider to stabilize working families so they can make ends meet? Would raising minimum wage be part of this equation?
Rep. Joseph Sanchez: No response submitted.
Dr. Nancy Wright: Raising the minimum wage is part of the solution. The state can encourage affordable housing through tax incentives or increasing section 8 housing. Universal childcare needs to be made available for any worker, including those with special-needs children and those who work nights and weekends. Healthy affordable food should be available to everybody in the state, not just those who live in cities. This can be incorporated in SNAP and WIC benefits. Making wind and solar power easier to access will lower energy costs. Finally, supporting medicaid and funding ACA subsidies will help keep healthcare out of pocket expenses lower.
Question 5: What single measurable outcome on food access or nutrition would define success in your administration, and how would you hold state agencies accountable for achieving this outcome?
(This question is from a board member of The Food Depot.)
Rep. Joseph Sanchez: No response submitted.
Dr. Nancy Wright: As a pediatrician I am especially concerned about the impact of hunger on a child’s developing brain. Of course, a parent’s food insecurity will lead to their child’s food insecurity too. In public health school I learned that measurable positive impacts on outcomes such as hunger is extremely difficult to achieve. There are many state agencies involved in solving child hunger, such as WIC, SNAP, CYFD, and the school system, and I would want these agencies to follow the statistics. I would aim to cut the in half the number of children in New Mexico who live with food insecurity.
Question 6: What experiences have shaped your understanding of food access in New Mexico, whether through your community, your work, or your own life?
(This question is from a volunteer with The Food Depot )
Rep. Joseph Sanchez: No response submitted.
Dr. Nancy Wright: My experiences with food access are drawn mostly from my decades of experience as a pediatrician. I work with parents as they navigate with WIC, but I worry about the quality of food available for the adults in a household. I am employed at a Federally Qualified Health Center where the patient population is impoverished. The closest I have come to personally experiencing food insecurity was when I lived in a Nigerian village as a Peace Corps Volunteer. However, that was due to not knowing where to access food as opposed to not having the money to buy food.