Michael Perry (New Mexico)
From Ballotpedia
Michael Perry (Republican Party) is running for election for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on June 2, 2026.
Perry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Michael Perry was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He earned a bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University in 1995. His career experience includes working as a consultant, field operations manager, assistant commissioner, vice chair, business owner and CEO. He has been affiliated with National Association of Counties, Safari Club, and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundaion.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands
Matthew McQueen (D), Jonas Moya (D), and Juan Sanchez III (D) are running in the Democratic primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on June 2, 2026.
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 | Matthew McQueen | |
| Jonas Moya | ||
 | Juan Sanchez III  | |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary
Republican primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands
Michael Perry (R) is running in the Republican primary for New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Michael Perry | |
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| = 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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Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Perry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Perry's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Michael currently serves as Vice Chair of the Chaves County Commission and sits on the Public Lands Advisory Committee for the National Association of Counties, where he continues to advocate for common-sense land policies and public access.
Michael is deeply committed to addressing the growing threats of wildfires and flooding across New Mexico. He has worked alongside local, state, and federal agencies to implement proactive forest and watershed management strategies and believes in the power of collaboration to prevent future disasters. His passion for protecting lives, property, and the land itself drives his commitment to strengthening interagency coordination and building a more resilient New Mexico.
He also understands that New Mexico is an incredibly diverse state-geographically, economically, and culturally. From the mountains to the deserts, and from farming communities to urban centers, each city, town, and village faces unique challenges. Michael believes that these differences cannot
be addressed with one broad brushstroke. Instead, he is committed to listening to local voices and creating solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of each community. Michael is deeply committed to addressing the growing threats of wildfires and flooding across New Mexico. He has worked alongside local, state, and federal agencies to implement proactive forest and watershed management strategies and believes in the power of collaboration to prevent future disasters.- Michael is deeply committed to addressing the growing threats of wildfires and flooding across New Mexico. He has worked alongside local, state, and federal agencies to implement proactive forest and watershed management strategies and believes in the power of collaboration to prevent future disasters. His passion for protecting lives, property, and the land itself drives his commitment to strengthening interagency coordination and building a more resilient New Mexico.
- Water is life in New Mexico. Michael has worked hands-on with watershed restoration projects and understands the vital connection between healthy land and clean, sustainable water. He supports proactive, collaborative strategies to manage our waterways and protect agricultural and municipal water supplies.
- Michael strongly supports public access to state trust lands for hunting, fishing, recreation, and cultural uses. He believes our public lands belong to the people and should be protected and accessible for future generations.
Energy production plays a critical role in funding New Mexico's public schools and services. Michael supports the responsible development of oil and gas resources while ensuring land and environmental protections remain in place.
He also recognizes the growing importance of renewable energy in New Mexico's future. As Land Commissioner, he will work to expand opportunities in wind, solar, and geothermal energy ensuring that New Mexico continues to lead the way in both traditional and renewable energy sectors.
The New Mexico State Land Office is one of the most influential, complex, and consequential agencies and state government. While many departments focus on regulation, enforcement, or public administration, the State Land Office is fundamentally different: it is a trustee, a land manager, a revenue generator, a legal steward, and a protector of long-term public assets all at once. It’s responsibility, span law, finance, natural resources, economic development, conservation, and intergovernmental relations. Because of this, it occupies a distinctive place in New Mexico’s intergovernmental structure-one that blends fiduciary obligations with real world management of over 13,000,000 acres of land and 26,000,000 acres of subsurface mineral rights. What sets the State Land Office apart is not just the scale of land and controls, but the purpose of that control. State trust lands were granted at statehood for the specific benefit of public schools, universities, hospitals, and other institutions. This creates a legal and moral responsibility that goes beyond typical governance: the office must manage these lands to generate revenue forever, without depleting their value for future generations. That dual mandate-maximize revenue while protecting the land-is what makes the State Land Office truly unique in the legal system and government landscape.
Public service is built on four pillars-trust, transparency, accountability, and knowledge of the office one holds. Trust is the first currency of leadership. Communities placed their confidence in leaders who act within integrity, keep their word, and show fairness, even under pressure. Transparency strengthens that trust by ensuring people understand how and why decisions are made, especially when public resources and school funding are at stake. accountability ensures those decisions have consequences, strong leaders, welcome oversight, explain their choices, admit mistakes, and remain answerable to the people they serve. This builds long-term confidence in public institutions and creates a culture of honest, responsible stewardship. But none of these principles can function without deep knowledge of the office one holds. Understanding, laws, responsibilities, land use systems, and the real world impacts on ranchers, sportsman, schools, and rural communities is essential. Knowledge allows leaders to make wise decisions, innate responsibly, avoid costly errors, and protect public resources for future generations. When these four principles work together, they strengthen government, United communities, and create stability. Leaders who embody them don’t just hold an office-they honor it, elevate it, and leave a legacy of responsible service. New Mexico deserves a principle leadership grounded in integrity, openness, and expertise; leadership committed to protecting our lands, supporting our rural economies, and ensuring a better future for all.
The New Mexico State Land Office exists for a single foundational purpose: to manage our state trust land,responsibly, and to generate revenue for public schools, universities, hospitals, and long-term institutions that serve New Mexicans. For me, this mission is not a slogan-it is a constitutional duty that must guide every decision, partnership, and policy within the office. These lands are not ordinary assets; they are held in trust for beneficiaries. That means they must be managed with discipline, fairness, and foresight. My understanding of the office is rooted in decades of direct experience, working with these lands, their users, and the communities who depend on them. It is crucial and also my highest belief that the State Land Office is the agency that must protect and enhance the long-term health and productivity of State Trust lands
I hope to leave a legacy defined by responsible stewardship, honest leadership, and a deep respect for the land and people of New Mexico. I want future generations to look back and know that during my time in office, New Mexico’s trust lands were healthier, more productive, and better protected than when I found them.This isn’t about winning a title,it is about restoring confidence in a constitutional office that directly funds our public schools, universities, and hospitals. I want to be remembered as a commissioner who strengthens rural communities, preserved access for sportsman and outdoor enthusiast, supported responsible, energy development, and insured that every lease, every project, and every decision served the long-term interest of the beneficiaries-our children. I also hope to be known as a leader who worked collaboratively across agencies, ranchers, tribal partners, industry, and conservation groups to create lasting solutions rather than temporary political victories. Ultimately, my legacy would be one of integrity and experience where people could say “he understood this office, he respected it, and he used it to serve New Mexico-not himself.”
The New Mexico. State Land Office is one of the most consequential agencies in state government-quietly, influencing everything from public school funding to land access, natural resource development, wildlife habitat, and the long-term health of millions of acres, and trusted to the people of New Mexico. For myself, who has devoted decades of my life to land management, resource stewardship, and public service, the responsibilities of this office or not abstract policy ideas-they are practical duties that shape real lives, rural economies, and the future of the state. Across my career as assistant commissioner at the State Land Office, major of the southern field operations for New Mexico game, and Fish, a wildlife and watershed specialist, and a lifelong outdoorsman, I have learned that this office demands leadership grounded in experience, common sense, accountability, and respect for all who rely on state trust land. while the State Land Office has a wide range of responsibilities, I believe several rise to the top as the most essential to New Mexico’s long-term success. The primary mission of the State Land Office is to generate revenue for New Mexico’s public schools, universities, hospitals, and other beneficiaries through responsible management. To me, this responsibility stands at the heart of the job and it requires a balanced informed approach. Oil and gas production has been the financial backbone of Staye Trust land revenues for generations. At the same time, renewable energy, grazing, agriculture, and commercial development, offer, stable, long-term income opportunities. Managing these uses fairly, safely, and with scientific understanding of the land is what ensures that schools and communities continue to benefit.Stewardship, I believe, is about leaving the land better than we found it. that means careful oversight, strong partnerships, with ranchers and industry, and practical understanding of the lands limits and potential.
The New Mexico State Land Office is one of the most powerful, influential and underestimated institutions and state government. Its decisions affect nearly every classroom, community, industry, and rural family across New Mexico. Yet many voters have only a limited understanding of its responsibilities or the scope of authority it holds. For myself-someone who has spent much of my professional life working within, alongside, and in collaboration with the State Land Office-the purpose of the agency is clear: to protect, manage, and responsibly develop public trust lands so current and future generations of New Mexicans benefit from them. This mission may sound straightforward, but the duties behind it our complex, far reaching, and consequential. The State Land Office, influences education, funding, energy development, land, access, wildlife habitat, renewable power, grazing systems, water, shed health, and billions of dollars in state revenue. It sits at the intersection of land management and law, economic development, and conservation, tradition, and innovation. And unlike many state agencies, it’s constitutional mandate is not political-it is fiduciary. That makes the State Land Office not only unique but indispensable. The New Mexico State Land Office is far more than an administrative agency-it is a cornerstone of the state economy, it’s education system, and it’s rural way of life. It’s powers are vast, it’s responsibilities, consequential, and it’s influence undeniable. The mission is clear: protect the land, support the people who rely on it, and ensure every decision honors the trust placed in the office. By focusing on responsible stewardship, predictable systems, rural partnership, and long-term financial strength, the State Land Office can remain one of the most valuable institutions in New Mexico’s government for generations to come.
The office of the New Mexico State land commissioner is one of the most consequential yet often misunderstood positions and state government. It is not merely an administrative role, and it is far more than a ceremonial title. It is a job with real, daily consequences for public schools, universities, hospitals, rural communities, ranching, families, energy, producers, and the health of New Mexico’s lands and watersheds. managing the 13,000,000 acres of state trust land-is a responsibility of enormous complexity. Every lease issued, every enforcement action taken, every restoration project approved, and every policy change, initiated carries economic, ecological, and social impact that can last generations. For this reason, previous experience In land management, natural resources, policy development, and inner agency coordination is not just helpful-It is essential from day one. The role of Stateland commissioner is too important, two complex, and two consequential to be trusted to someone without substantial experience. The decisions made by this office affect every student, every rancher, every outdoor enthusiast, every energy producer, and every taxpayer in New Mexico. in the end, the office of State land commissioner demands real experience, real knowledge, and real stewardship-because this role is far too important to be filled by a politician, seeking power rather than someone prepared to serve on day one.
The office of the New Mexico State land commissioner is one of the most powerful, complex and consequential positions in the state government. The Commissioner is entrusted with managing 9,000,000 acres of surface estate and 13,000,000 acres of mineral rights-land, whose revenues directly support, public schools, universities, hospitals, and vital institutions across the state. The decisions made in this office, influenced ranchers, oil, and gas operators, renewable, energy, developers, sportsman, counties, tribal nations, water systems, and the long-term health of wildlife and habitat. the scope of responsibility stretches from economic development to natural resource protection, from legal oversight to public access, and from energy policy to land restoration. Given the depth and breadth of this responsibility, the skills and expertise require required to lead. The State Land Office effectively are far more specialized than many people realize. This is not a position that can be carried by political ambition, surface level knowledge, or theoretical understanding. It demands genuine experience, practical skill, and a grounded understanding of how land, law, and livelihood intersect across New Mexico. The role of Stateland commissioner is one of the most demanding, technical, and consequential positions in state government. It requires a rare land of natural resource knowledge, legal understanding, financial skill, administrative leadership, on the ground experience, and genuine familiarity with rural communities. The decisions made in this office shaped the health of New Mexico’s lands, The strength of it schools, and the prosperity of future generations. This is not a role suited for political beginners, or those seeking power-it requires someone who brings real experience, real expertise, and a proven commitment to stewardship of the lands. We all depend on.
New Mexico Conservation Officer’s Association
I support protecting the ballot initiative process as an important tool for citizen involvement, but I do not support efforts that we can safeguards, reduce transparency, or open the door to outside influence. I believe New Mexico‘s ballot initiative system must remain grounded and true grassroots participation, not national organizations with deep pockets or agendas that don’t reflect local communities. in short, I believe in citizen, driven democracy-but not in weakening the guard rails that protect New Mexico’s constitution and rural communities. I support reforms that ensure transparency and fairness, not reforms that have more power to special interests.
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Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands |
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Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on November 18, 2025
