CQPolitics

Since artist Georgia O’Keeffe first painted northern New Mexico in 1929, the 3rd’s breathtaking scenery and unique Spanish and American Indian heritage have attracted thousands of artists and tourists. Today, galleries and ski resorts still attract visitors from around the world, while an influx of retirees has made the area one of the fastest-growing parts of the state.

But the 3rd is a district of extremes. Alongside luxury resorts and the bountiful art trade is extraordinary poverty. Gallup, in McKinley County, boasts millionaires, while the county itself remains one of the poorest in the nation. Large American Indian populations in the northwest struggle with modest farming and ranching ventures, while the same area provides lofty incomes for oil and gas producers. Many western reservations are plagued with alcoholism and drug abuse, and Rio Arriba County in the north has one of the nation’s highest drug mortality rates.

The Defense Department’s 2005 BRAC recommendation to close Cannon Air Force Base, near Clovis in the 3rd’s east, would have devastated the surrounding rural community, which depends on the base to support its economy. But the BRAC Commission voted to move the base’s F-16 squadrons elsewhere, while still keeping the base open.

Hispanics, American Indians and Santa Fe’s wealthy, liberal base give Democrats a 2-to-1 edge in voter registration. Conservative pockets exist in areas such as Rio Rancho, where Intel employs 5,200 workers; Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the atomic bomb was developed; and among energy producers in San Juan County in the 3rd’s northwest.

Major Industry

State government, ranching, farming, tourism, defense

Military Bases

Cannon Air Force Base, 3,471 military, 614 civilian (2007)

Cities

Santa Fe, 62,203; Rio Rancho (pt.), 46,701; Farmington, 37,844; Clovis, 32,667; Gallup, 20,209

Notable

Santa Fe, the nation’s second-oldest city, was founded in 1607; Roughly 100 tribes show their work at the Santa Fe Indian Market each August; The Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec features structures and artifacts from the 1100s and 1200s.