On April 18, the Albuquerque Journal published the following opinion column written by Bernalillo County Assessor Damian Lara  who was  elected Bernalillo County assessor in 2022 and who is  now running for reelection in the June 2 Democratic Party primary.

EDITOR’S DISCLAIMER: The News and Commentary blog www.petedinelli.com was not compensated for publication of this announcement. The announcement is published as a public service to voters.

Damian Lara is the current Bernalillo County Assessor and is seeking a second  four year term. Mr. Lara earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Brown University and a law degree from the University of New Mexico.  He has been a New Mexico State Certified Appraiser since 2013. His public service career began as congressional staffer with the U.S. House of Representatives and includes service as deputy assessor for Bernalillo County and leadership roles with the Assessor’s Affiliate of New Mexico Counties the and deputy director for economic development, City of Albuquerque.  County Assessor  Damian Lara holds various positions at the State, National and International stage, including as the first New Mexican ever elected to serve on the International Association of Assessing Officers.  Assessor Lara works to establish industry standards for all assessing offices, which will help housing affordability and corporate accountability.

JOURNAL HEADLINE: “A clear choice for Bernalillo County assessor”

If you walk up to someone on the street and ask them what the Bernalillo County assessor does, you’d probably get a lot of blank stares. For good reason too — not many people are knowledgeable about all of the work that goes into assessing the value of properties and property taxes. 

Having served as Bernalillo County assessor since 2023, I can confirm that it is a lot of work. I am blessed to have amazing staff members who work tirelessly each day to ensure our assessments are fair, equitable and transparent. We are striving to make the county’s property tax system as progressive as possible. Our motto in our office is, “When everyone pays their fair share, the tax burden is shared, not shifted.”

Here’s what I’ve learned: What county residents most want and deserve is trust and confidence that their assessor is ethical. And that is a big point of differentiation between me and my opponent, Linda Stover.

My mother brought my siblings and me to the United States when I was just 6 years old, with nothing but four boxes of clothes. We all worked the potato and onion fields of southeastern New Mexico as migrant farmworkers. My mom sacrificed everything for us. She taught us to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry and poor, and heal the sick. Simple but true words. She also told us how important education was. After graduating high school, I attended Brown University and then earned my law degree at the University of New Mexico. In private practice, I represented immigrant victims of domestic violence. Working hard and working ethically is in my blood, and I’ve brought this work ethic to the Assessor’s Office.

That is why I was so surprised to see Stover attacking my ethics … . First she had a Republican supporter file a complaint with Bernalillo County, alleging that my office placed public service ads from the Assessor’s Office in the Journal to advance my reelection campaign. She then repeated these charges (and others) in an op-ed in the Journal …  .

Here’s the truth: The Assessor’s Office has placed these public service announcements in the Journal every year, to coincide with the annual mailing of Notice of Value letters. This year’s ads also alerted veterans of their new property tax exemptions, passed recently by the New Mexico Legislature.

When Stover’s ally was informed by the county’s compliance officer that she had to swear by her complaint, she withdrew it. Why? Because it was frivolous and she knew it. 

Here’s another thing I have learned. Voters see through a politician’s hypocrisy 100% of the time. 

Stover was found to have violated the county’s code of conduct less than a year ago, when she violated Bernalillo County’s “revolving door” rule by accepting a $160,000 deputy treasurer county job — a position that was created just for her. After the ruling, she went on the attack, filing a frivolous counter-claim against Commissioners Barbara Baca and Eric Olivas. Her case was dismissed.

But it gets even more ridiculous. Stover herself is featured in ads playing around the clock right now, paid for by the Treasurer’s Office with taxpayer dollars — at the very moment she is accusing me of doing the same. Why is the newly hired deputy treasurer featured in multiple ads for the Treasurer’s Office during her primary election instead of the treasurer himself — is it because she’s now running for office?

I was raised to know that if you committed a wrong, you took responsibility, apologized and tried to do better next time. Instead, my opponent refused to take responsibility and instead, went on the attack. To me, that’s not ethical behavior at all. 

There will undoubtedly be more attacks forthcoming. I will continue to defend my office and character.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The June 2, 2026 primary election is New Mexico’s first ever “semi-open” primary under the newly enacted state law that allows independent voters to cast their votes in either the Democratic or Republican primary without having to change their party affiliation.

On June 2, Democrats and Independents are encouraged to vote in the primary to nominate Damian Lara for a second term as Bernalillo County Assessor. The general election is on November 3, 2026.