Dodge keeps state House seat

Democratic incumbent George Dodge will go on to represent District 63 for another term after defeating Republican challenger Steve Hanson in Tuesday's general election.

Dodge, a former Santa Rosa educator, took 60 percent of the vote against the Curry County dairyman in their race to the New Mexico House of Representatives.

"It feels fantastic," Dodge said excitedly. "We had a fantastic team and we worked hard. We made over 7,000 phone calls and knocked on over 3,000 doors and that's what it takes. You got to have a ground team to win it."

Hanson said he knew he was fighting to win a district where Democrats had heavy influence but that didn't dissuade his desire to run.

"I needed to at least go in and give him a challenge," Hanson said. "Hopefully (Dodge) gets in there and treats the district as a district and doesn't isolate certain areas."

Hanson said his candidacy for office stems from his desire to serve his country. He hopes Dodge will fight for education in the upcoming legislative session.

"We need the jobs but I'm still a stickler for education," Hanson said. "Hopefully he takes that to heart.

Dodge agrees that education is at the top of his priority list.

"I plan to work hard to continue improving our education system for all of our school districts," Dodge said. "I also plan to work hard in creating new jobs for our people here. That's really what I ran on, education and business and that's what I plan to do."

Dodge said he was happy about the contents of their race and felt that Hanson was a worthy opponent.

He added being reelected reaffirms that people understand what he's trying to do for them.

"People understand that I'm working hard for them," Dodge said. "This seat belongs to the people of District 63. I represent of all them."