New Mexico
New Mexico Voices for Children has new leadership – NM Political Report
New Mexico Voices for Children, an organization that focuses on tax policy and how it impacts children in poverty, has new leadership. Gabrielle Uballez replaces Amber Wallin as executive director of the nonprofit. Uballez began her new position last month. Uballez told NM Political Report that her interest in advocacy work was sparked when she […]
New Mexico Voices for Children, an organization that focuses on tax policy and how it impacts children in poverty, has new leadership.
Gabrielle Uballez replaces Amber Wallin as executive director of the nonprofit. Uballez began her new position last month.
Uballez told NM Political Report that her interest in advocacy work was sparked when she was a child living in New Mexico. After school and during summer breaks, she participated in a program called Working Classroom, which provides art mentors to youth to build art skills focused on advocacy and social justice. Uballez attributes that early experience to her desire to build a career in advocacy around social justice.
Uballez began her professional career working for an organization in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City before returning to Albuquerque to lead Working Classroom for several years. In that role, she worked with youth to amplify issues that mattered to local communities, including art that focused on gun violence and prevention, immigration and social justice, she said.
Most recently Uballez worked in philanthropy work for Asset Funders Network, a membership organization focused on equitable wealth building and economic mobility. She said that in that role, she was involved in supporting philanthropy that took a broad view that supporting family economic stability means “everything from a person’s health and ability to build stability and wealth, housing and good paying jobs.”
“We supported philanthropies that supported systems change,” she said.
Uballez said she connected to New Mexico Voices for Children through that work. She said she also realized she wanted to be more engaged in policy advocacy.
She said that when she realized Wallin was leaving for another role, Uballez knew she wanted to apply because of how NMVC “shows up in coalition spaces.”
“They have a track record for getting really great policy change,” she said.
Uballez said she considers NMVC a leader in tax policy. She said she believes in the idea that a budget is a moral document.
“That’s the root of inequity… How the state collects New Mexicans’ revenue gets to the heart of inequality,” she said.
Uballez said she doesn’t have any specific tax policy in mind yet but she said she expects the organization to do more tax fairness work. NMVC pushed for a child tax credit policy, which allows eligible families to earn up to $600 per child in child tax credits.
State and federal child tax credits improve equity for children of color in the state
“We’ve made great strides to make sure those who make the least don’t pay the most,” she said.
She said one area to consider for the future is guaranteed income and what that might look like in New Mexico.
“It gives families dignity and the resources to decide where to put the money, in summer camps, home repairs, or food. They are the experts in their own lives,” she said.
She said another policy that NMVC is not the lead advocate on but is part of a coalition pushing for change is the Paid Family and Medical Leave bill that failed in the 2024 and 2023 legislatures when some Democrats sided with Republicans to kill the bill.
“We’re going to get it passed next year,” she said.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Tanya Tucker will perform at the 2026 New Mexico State Fair, officials announced Tuesday.
Tucker will take to the stage Friday, Sept. 18, after the Chevron PRCA rodeo. The Grammy Award-winning icon has racked up 10 No. 1 country hits since her first hit, “Delta Dawn,” at age 13.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring the legendary Tanya Tucker to the New Mexico State Fair,” said Dan Mourning, general manager of the New Mexico State Fair. “Tanya is one of the greatest icons in country music history and is the perfect fit for the Fair.”
Tucker has 23 Top-40 albums and 56 Top 40 singles on the Billboard country music charts. She has won two Country Music Association awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, three CMT Awards and two Grammys for Best Country Album and Best Country Song.
Tickets are set to go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m.
Here is the full 2026 New Mexico State Fair rodeo-concert lineup:
Friday, Sept. 11
Turnpike Troubadours with Chevron PRCA Xtreme Bulls
Saturday, Sept. 12
Ian Munsick with Chevron PRCA Xtreme Bulls
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Chevron PRCA Standalone Rodeo
Thursday, Sept. 17
Everclear with Chevron PRCA Rodeo
Friday, Sept. 18
Tanya Tucker with Chevron PRCA Rodeo
Saturday, Sept. 19
The Warning with Chevron PRCA Rodeo
Sunday, Sept. 20
Chevron PRCA Rodeo – Matinee
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — State investigators began searching a secluded ranch in New Mexico on Monday where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women.
The office of state Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that the search was being done with the cooperation of the current ranch owners.
Torrez last month reopened an investigation of the ranch. New Mexico’s initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, and state prosecutors say now that “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination.”
Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Santa Fe, in 1993 from former Democratic Gov. Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion with a private runway.
The property was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 — with proceeds going toward creditors — to the family of Don Huffines, a candidate in Texas for state comptroller who won the Republican primary last week.
“The New Mexico Department of Justice appreciates the cooperation of the current property owners,” the agency said in a statement. Prosecutors “will continue to keep the public appropriately informed, support the survivors, and follow the facts wherever they lead.”
Additionally, New Mexico state legislators have established a new commission to look into past activities at the ranch.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.
Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, but the state attorney general’s office in 2019 confirmed that it had interviewed possible victims who visited Epstein’s ranch.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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