Karen C. Whitlock

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Karen Whitlock

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 7, 2022

Personal

Birthplace

District of Columbia

Religion

Episcopalian

Profession

Lobbyist

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Karen Whitlock (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Mexico House of Representatives to represent District 39. She lost in the Democratic primary on June 7, 2022.

Biography

Karen C. Whitlock was born in Washington, D.C. She attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and American University for undergraduate study and earned a degree in 1985. She attended Arizona State University and Western New Mexico University for graduate study and earned a degree in 2015. Whitlock's career experience includes working in the environmental field and as a lobbyist and board member with the National Association of Social Workers. She has served as a board member with the Community Partnership for Children, Grant County.

Elections

2022

See also: New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for New Mexico House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Luis Terrazas defeated Rodolpho Martinez in the general election for New Mexico House of Representatives District 39 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Luis Terrazas (R)	53.3	6,415
		Rodolpho Martinez (D)	46.7	5,622

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,037
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 39

Rodolpho Martinez defeated Karen Whitlock in the Democratic primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 39 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rodolpho Martinez	51.3	1,770
		Karen Whitlock	48.7	1,682

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,452
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Luis Terrazas advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 39 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Luis Terrazas	100.0	1,898

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,898
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2020

See also: New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38

Incumbent Rebecca Dow defeated Karen Whitlock and William Parrish Kinney in the general election for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Dow (R)	56.5	8,547
		Karen Whitlock (D)	40.6	6,147
		William Parrish Kinney (L)	2.8	431

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 15,125
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38

Karen Whitlock advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitlock (Write-in)	100.0	1,121

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,121
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38

Incumbent Rebecca Dow advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Dow	100.0	3,466

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,466
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38

William Parrish Kinney advanced from the Libertarian primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		William Parrish Kinney	100.0	16

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 16
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also: New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38

Incumbent Rebecca Dow defeated Karen Whitlock in the general election for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Dow (R)	54.3	6,634
		Karen Whitlock (D)	45.7	5,593

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,227
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38

Karen Whitlock advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Whitlock	100.0	2,815

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 2,815
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38

Incumbent Rebecca Dow advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Dow	100.0	1,971

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 1,971
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the New Mexico House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 8, 2016. Incumbent Dianne Hamilton (R) did not seek re-election.

Rebecca L. Dow defeated Mary E. Hotvedt in the New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 general election.

New Mexico House of Representatives District 38, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rebecca L. Dow	54.79%	7,149
	Democratic	Mary E. Hotvedt	45.21%	5,900
Total Votes				13,049
Source: New Mexico Secretary of State

Mary E. Hotvedt defeated Karen C. Whitlock in the New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 Democratic primary.

New Mexico House of Representatives District 38, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mary E. Hotvedt	50.42%	1,761
	Democratic	Karen C. Whitlock	49.58%	1,732
Total Votes				3,493

Rebecca L. Dow defeated Daniel A. Galindo in the New Mexico House of Representatives District 38 Republican primary.

New Mexico House of Representatives District 38, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rebecca L. Dow	79.90%	1,904
	Republican	Daniel A. Galindo	20.10%	479
Total Votes				2,383

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Karen Whitlock did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Karen Whitlock completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Whitlock's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a proud educator and social worker. Particularly in this time of crisis, our communities need legislators to help get resources to: Individuals and small businesses, and local rural area hospitals. State and local governments are also suffering through this pandemic.

I am a resident of Grant County, New Mexico and am active in my community including my local church in Silver City. I am also active in the Grant County Democratic Party. In addition, I am on several local, state and national boards including: Grant County Community Partnership for Children; and National Association of Social Workers, New Mexico Chapter Board and I am on the National Association of Social Workers National Political Action Candidate Election (PACE) Board. I am a proud graduate of Western New Mexico University with a Master's Degree in Social Work. I earned my undergraduate degree at American University.

My work experience includes: o National Association of Social Workers - New Mexico Government Relations/Lobbyist o Adjunct Professor, WNMU Social Work o Taught Dual Enrollment Courses in Grant County High Schools

o Worked in the Environmental Field for 16 years including, Arizona state government, Phelps Dodge Corporate office and Tyrone Mine; and as an environmental Consultant With HDR

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Education is the Most Important Investment a State Can Make
• Healthcare is a Basic Human Right
• Economic Development including Jobs is and a Living Wage is crucial as we recover from this pandemic.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

My strongest passions in life are children. This includes both education and child welfare. Children are our future, and the key to New Mexico getting out of poverty. Many children are born into poverty and it makes it more difficult for them to absorb the education, whether it is because they are hungry, or haven't been able to sleep at night because they are homeless, or in a home substance use issues, or their parents are undocumented workers, or any number of issues, all of these issues weigh on children. Only when education is our top priority will New Mexico come out of poverty and children will be able to learn the skills necessary to thrive in today's world.

Secondly, as we struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is becoming more important every day that healthcare is a basic human right. Rural areas are suffering and hospitals are closing. It is of the utmost importance to provide necessary healthcare to everyone without regard to their socio economic status.

Finally, we need to have an economic development strategy in New Mexico not dependent on oil and gas. Currently, oil and gas are responsible for about 36% of our budget, and when times are bad in oil and gas, like now, it is bad for New Mexico. Under MLG's guidance this state is beginning to diversify our economy, but we still have a way to go. With COVID-19 though, our first step is to make sure it is safe to go out and then support our workers as they go back to work to improve our economy.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I have so many hero's, but the first one that I remember well was Ann Richardson. I just loved her example of having strong values and had a great sense of humor. Ann Richardson wasn't afraid of a fight and yet respected everyone and their right to an opinion. I would like to follow her example. I am also a huge fan of Martin Luther King Junior. He set a great example of fighting for what was right and what he believed in while following a platform of nonviolence.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I believe that the characteristic of honesty and integrity are the most important for an elected official.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I believe that I am a leader, and have held many leadership positions throughout my life. In addition, I get along well with people and form lasting relationships and friendships. Finally, I look for the good in all people and I find it, and I use that to find common ground with that person, enabling me to work with them.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibility for someone who is elected to office is to serve their constituents. When you run for office you let the people know what you are running on and what issues are important to you and what you support. That is why you got elected. Your core responsibilities are to stay true to those issues and values.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a legacy of being an advocate for children and bringing New Mexico's education system to a new level. I would also like to be seen as someone who fought for the little guy and helped to make their lives better.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I think that the first historical event that I remember was when Ronald Regan got shot in Washington, DC. I think I was 14.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was as a salad bar attendant at Lock Stock and Barrel restaurant in Raleigh, NC. I had that job for 3 years while I was in high school.

What is your favorite book? Why?

I have many favorite books, but I think that the book that best describes my vision for New Mexico is New Mexico 2050. This shows a road map for helping to make New Mexico thrive by 2050.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I have struggled with many different things throughout my life, but I guess that my biggest challenge has been my weight.

Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?

In New Mexico we have two chambers, the House and the Senate. I am running for the House. I think that the biggest difference between the two legislative chambers in New Mexico is that the Senate represents more people than does the house. That makes, in general, more moderate politicians in the Senate.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do believe that it is beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics because learning how government works is not easy. There are many different norms for government than in the private sector. For example, in the private sector profit is the motive and in government serving people is the motive. Sometimes it is difficult for politicians to grasp that concept as they are in the legislator and having a knowledge of how government works, how the legislature works is helpful once elected and it makes it easier to get things done.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

Over the next decade, without a doubt, the greatest challenge will be overcoming the obstacles this COVID-19 pandemic have brought us. We had a lot of new initiatives that we had just started prior to this pandemic and continuing those initiatives such as, creating our early childhood education department, and reforming child welfare, and lessening our dependence on oil and gas are still going to have to go forward even with the pandemic if New Mexico is ever going to thrive. New Mexico has reserves set aside to address a problem such as a pandemic and some legislators are still not going to want to take those reserves to address these additional problems that have arisen as a result of the pandemic such as unemployment, and helping small business', or continuing to fund education at a level that will get us higher than 50th in the nation.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

The ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature is a collaborative relationship. The legislature and the governor do not always see eye to eye, but if they work together and collaborate then more work can get accomplished for both the legislature and the governor. I believe that New Mexico's current governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is a great example of the collaboration that needs to take place between the governor and the legislature.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

I am currently a lobbyist. If I do not build relationships with other legislators then I do not get any bills passed or get anything accomplished. I am not going to go anywhere and will be ineffective without those relationships. There is almost always agreement with other legislators of opposing parties or opposing ideals on some points. It takes work to find those areas of agreement, but they are there and it is important to find commonalities in order to forge those relationships. For example, I've worked with legislators on legislation having to do with child welfare with legislators from all over the spectrum.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Yes, there are several committees that I would want to be a part of. One of the committees I'd like to be on is the Health and Human Services Committee. This committee speaks to my heart as a social worker and as an advocate for health care. In addition, I would like to be on the Economic Development Committee. I want to be a part of developing, growing and diversifying New Mexico's economy. Finally, I would like to be a part of the Education committee. The road out of poverty is through education. New Mexico can only win if we make education our number one priority in New Mexico.

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the legislature, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

I would be interested in being a member of the Democratic Party Leadership in the house, but not initially. I want to focus my initial efforts on learning the legislature from the inside and getting comfortable in my role as a new legislator and being an advocate for the people in my district. After I am a little more familiar with the legislature from the inside then I would work to become a part of leadership.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

In New Mexico, there are several legislators that I want to model myself after. One is my former senator, now Lt. Governor Howie Morales. Howie knows how to work with everyone and was and is able to get a lot of things done for his constituents and indeed all New Mexicans. Another legislator I would like to model myself after is Representative Liz Thomson. Liz is a great friend of mine and is one of the most compassionate and levelheaded people I know and such an advocate for children with disabilities.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

At this stage, I'd like to focus on being elected to my first political office before seriously considering another office.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

There are many stories that stick with me but, the one that I can't get out of my head is I was canvasing one day and there was a woman who was telling me how she couldn't afford her insulin and was having to ration her insulin and take it every other day rather than every day. That is a life or death decision that this woman is making. She nor should anyone have to make those types of decisions about their healthcare. This made me even more passionate about helping everyone have access to healthcare.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2016

Whitlock's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	There are many essentials that make for a secure and prosperous community. Three cornerstones are: Healthcare, Education, and the Economy. We have competent and compassionate medical professionals in the area, but we don't have enough of them. I will work to attract more doctors, nurses and others to the area. We need state of the art facilities and proper staffing levels. And every single person, regardless of income or social status, has access to healthcare. As an educator, I can tell you that our schools are failing. Teachers and parents have to raise money just to purchase basic supplies, and many of our kids are graduating with sub-par educations. Our economy is in sad shape. There are not enough jobs for our high school and college graduates, and many leave the area. We need a living wage, and jobs that compensate college graduates for their education. Our economic development plans have for too long aimed at recruiting big out of state corporations at the expense of local businesses. Studies have shown that small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Small businesses keep most of their profits in the local economy. We need to shift our priorities to encourage and reward our local businesses. Please read my speech on the economy. Where will the money come from? The good news is the money is already there- we need to change our priorities and invest in our communities rather than corporations.	”
—Karen C. Whitlock,

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the New Mexico House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Javier Martínez

Majority Leader:Reena Szczepanski

Minority Leader:Gail Armstrong

Representatives

District 1

Rodney Montoya (R)

District 2

Mark Duncan (R)

District 3

Bill Hall (R)

District 4

Joseph Hernandez (D)

District 5

Doreen Johnson (D)

District 6

Martha Garcia (D)

District 7

Tanya Mirabal Moya (R)

District 8

Brian Baca (R)

District 9

Patricia Lundstrom (D)

District 10

G. Romero (D)

District 11

Javier Martínez (D)

District 12

Art De La Cruz (D)

District 13

Patricia Caballero (D)

District 14

Miguel Garcia (D)

District 15

Dayan Hochman-Vigil (D)

District 16

Yanira Gurrola Valenzuela (D)

District 17

Cynthia Borrego (D)

District 18

Marianna Anaya (D)

District 19

Janelle Anyanonu (D)

District 20

Meredith Dixon (D)

District 21

Debra Sariñana (D)

District 22

Stefani Lord (R)

District 23

Alan Martinez (R)

District 24

Elizabeth Thomson (D)

District 25

Cristina Parajón (D)

District 26

Eleanor Chavez (D)

District 27

Marian Matthews (D)

District 28

Pamelya Herndon (D)

District 29

Joy Garratt (D)

District 30

Elizabeth Torres-Velasquez (D)

District 31

Nicole Chavez (R)

District 32

Jenifer Jones (R)

District 33

Micaela Lara Cadena (D)

District 34

Raymundo Lara (D)

District 35

Angelica Rubio (D)

District 36

Nathan Small (D)

District 37

Joanne Ferrary (D)

District 38

Rebecca Dow (R)

District 39

Luis Terrazas (R)

District 40

Joseph Sanchez (D)

District 41

Susan Herrera (D)

District 42

Kristina Ortez (D)

District 43

Christine Chandler (D)

District 44

Kathleen Cates (D)

District 45

Linda Serrato (D)

District 46

Andrea Romero (D)

District 47

Reena Szczepanski (D)

District 48

Tara Lujan (D)

District 49

Gail Armstrong (R)

District 50

Matthew McQueen (D)

District 51

John Block (R)

District 52

Doreen Gallegos (D)

District 53

Sarah Silva (D)

District 54

Jonathan Henry (R)

District 55

Cathrynn Brown (R)

District 56

Harlan Vincent (R)

District 57

Catherine Cullen (R)

District 58

Angelita Mejia (R)

District 59

Mark Murphy (R)

District 60

Joshua Hernandez (R)

District 61

Randall Pettigrew (R)

District 62

Elaine Sena Cortez (R)

District 63

Martin Ruben Zamora (R)

District 64

Andrea Reeb (R)

District 65

Derrick Lente (D)

District 66

Jimmy Mason (R)

District 67

Jack Chatfield (R)

District 68

Charlotte Little (D)

District 69

Michelle Abeyta (D)

District 70

Anita Gonzales (D)

Democratic Party (44)

Republican Party (26)