New Mexico
Political divisions fuel push to have Texas annex part of New Mexico
WASHINGTON — Everything is bigger in Texas, but could the state get even larger? Texas lawmakers have begun exploring whether to annex a part of neighboring New Mexico, where many residents say they would prefer to join the Lone Star State. However, key officials in New Mexico are dismissing the idea.
State Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, told Spectrum News that Texans have a lot in common culturally with those from the eastern portion of New Mexico. He said hospitals, companies and universities in his community have many people from there.
“These are oil producers. They’re cattlemen. They’re farmers. They are fiercely independent. They don’t rely on government. Texas is a smaller government state, less regulations, less taxes,” Tepper said. “They feel much closer to us than they do the government in Santa Fe.”
And that is why he believes the Texas Legislature should explore annexing a part of New Mexico.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, directed the governmental oversight committee to study the constitutional and economic implications of adding a couple of counties in southeast New Mexico to Texas. The Republican state lawmakers in Lea and Roosevelt counties in New Mexico, just west of Lubbock, have expressed an interest in leaving their state.
In a statement to Spectrum News, Burrows said, in part, “This conversation is ultimately about culture, opportunity, and the right to choose a path that reflects the shared values of the Permian and Delaware basins.”
Tepper agreed. He said it would be “historic” if the Republican-led Legislature could pull it off.
“There’s a vast amount of conservative voters out there. People who are conservative economically, with their faith, and are very frustrated with the core urban high-density areas and the voters there ruling over vast portions of the geographic areas of these states,” Tepper said.
“If we could find a way to essentially liberate these New Mexico counties into Texas, I think we would also be cutting a path for other counties that are frustrated with their centralized governments being overbearing in other states and bringing them over to more conservative states,” Tepper continued.
New Mexico Democrats are dismissing the idea. A spokesperson for the governor reportedly called it “not serious,” and the New Mexico House speaker said on social media, “Dude, over my dead body, man. No way, no way.”
Legal experts said under the U.S. Constitution, not only would New Mexico and Texas need to agree on annexation, but Congress as well.
“It’s very, very hard to imagine winning that trifecta,” said Sanford Levinson, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. “It’s hard for me to imagine that New Mexico would be delighted to lose this population, even if the Democrats who run the state probably have no love lost for the Republicans who want to leave.”
Levinson said one big reason the idea is a non-starter is that because of the population change under the new borders, New Mexico would likely lose a congressional seat and Texas would gain one.
He added that conservatives in Oregon and Illinois are also looking at leaving their states.
“The polarization that we talk so much about is found as much within states as among states and the United States, that if you look at practically any state in the union, you find these sharp divisions,” Levinson said.
And despite the sharp divisions, new state lines are hard to draw.
VALENCIA COUNTY, N.M. — Multiple earthquakes sent tremors through communities just south of Albuquerque, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Sunday morning.
The USGS reported a 3.9-magnitude earthquake happened at 11:41 a.m., just three minutes after a 3.7-magnitude earthquake. They were both in the Jarales and Rio Communities area.
Two other earthquakes were reported on the other side of the Rio Grande: A 3.2-magnitude earthquake Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and a 2.6-magnitude earthquake Saturday at 11:51 p.m., near Abeytas.
There have been reports of no damage or injuries, according to the Valencia County Fire Department. The Department received reports of an earthquake in the Jarales and Rio Communities area.
New Mexico
Tree deaths in New Mexico tripled in 2025 as warming summers increases insects, stress on forests – New Mexico Political Report
Tree deaths tripled in New Mexico during the second warmest year on record, according to new analysis of the state’s forest health from the U.S. Forest Service and New Mexico Forestry Division.
last decade, 291,000 acres with spruce beetle-killed trees have been mapped in New Mexico.
2025 saw a rapid expansion of bark beetle-caused deaths with 209,000 acres of conifers now dead — up from 67,000 acres in 2024 — mostly on national forest land managed by the USFS. “Fall and winter temperatures remained warmer and drier, allowing bark beetles to remain active late in the season,” the report concluded. “Large areas of ponderosa and piñon forests saw significant mortality from bark beetles, especially in the southern part of the state. Areas near burn scars from large wildfires continue to experience bark beetle attack on residual trees.”
New Mexico’s forests under threat
Findings from 2025 statewide survey
—
Beetle-killed conifer forest increased 211%, mostly on national forest lands
Defoliation (distinct from mortality) decreased 51%
Total acreage with damage decreased 6%
Forests impacted by drought and heat increased 66%
If there is good news in the report, it is that a virus infecting some of the most common insects causing defoliation greatly reduced the number of acres showing a loss of leaf or needle coverings. Insect infestations of the western spruce budworm, Douglas-fir tussock moth, western tent caterpillar, needleminers and scale insects was down 51% from 327,000 acres in 2024 to 160,000 acres in 2025.
Still, the number of forest acres under threat increased 6% in just one year and the number of acres threatened by drought and temperature were up a whopping 66%, the report’s authors say.
Crystal Tischler, USFS.
“Our forests have exceeded the land’s carrying capacity,” said Victor Lucero, the state’s forest health manager. “No matter what, disturbance events will try to rebalance our ecosystems, whether it’s through human intervention, like proactive thinning, or biological events such as pest outbreaks or wildfire. We can manage disturbances to prevent catastrophic events like these in the future.”
Read more from the report here.
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Loved ones filled Queen of Heaven Catholic Church as the state mourned musician Al Hurricane Jr., whose family said he died at 66 from a heart attack.
NEW MEXICO – Loved ones filled Queen of Heaven Catholic Church as the state mourned musician Al Hurricane Jr., whose family said he died at 66 from a heart attack.
Family members, friends and others gathered Saturday morning for his funeral service and honored the legacy he left behind. KOB 4 spoke with relatives as they said their final goodbyes.
“270 years we can still be listening to Beethoven, Mozart, Handel. Why couldn’t we in 270 year be listening to Flor de las Flores?” the priest said.
A voice that helped define New Mexico’s sound is now being remembered across the state. Al Hurricane Jr. started his musical career at age 5 and later followed in the footsteps of his father, Al Hurricane.
“Through the years, he was so sweet, he listens very well, very well. And he made a song, well, the song that was for him and I, that he always sang when we used to see him was Flor de las Flores,” Frances Lucero said.
Remembering his legacy
Lucero, whose husband Anthony Lucero is second cousins with Al Hurricane Jr., joined dozens of family members inside the church to pay respects.
“Al Jr.’s dad and I were first cousins, so I’ve known Al Jr. basically after he was born, after his dad passed away, we kept in touch with each other,” Jacob Sanchez said.
“People would see him, and he was so easy to get along with. For me, it was easy, because we were related, but I could see him relate to other people, and there was almost an immediate bond. I was very impressed by that all the time, and just had that ability to become close to people, complete strangers,” Sanchez said.
His relatives said that even with his fame, he never lost sight of who he was.
“Just his ability to have an impact on people, he was so humble, and he had this million dollar smile,” Sanchez said.
Will the music continue?
His family said his legacy will live on through his relatives and the music they continue to perform.
“It’ll continue on, because he still has a brother, Jerry D, Jerry Dean, and him and his sons are starting to come out too so that’s whats going to keep it alive, them and sparks is going to keep it alive,” Antonio Lucero said.
“I will always remember him. He’ll always.. there will not be a day in his years that no one will ever forget them, no. I guarantee you that so far,” Lucero said.
His family said he died at the age of 66 from a heart attack.
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