Lawmaker stepping down after 10 years

Dennis Roch says family comes first. And so New Mexico District 67’s representative has decided to step down from the Legislature after 10 years.

Roch, a Logan Republican, will not run for re-election when his term expires on Dec. 31, 2018.

He said his chief reason for leaving state politics is the imminent birth of his fourth child.

“You know, when I got into the Legislature almost 10 years ago, it was just my wife and I and, now, just under a decade later, having four kids, it’s a big sacrifice for the family to be making,” he said.

The difficulty of balancing his political career with his duties as superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools also influenced his decision, as well as a feeling that “10 years is plenty long for someone to serve.”

In that time, Roch worked to pass an array of legislation, including one that rescinds worker’s compensation for those injured while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“I worked on that for about five years, and we were able to get that resolved just two years ago, and so now there’s some kind of common-sense policy back in the law,” he said.

Like any career in politics, however, his wasn’t without its challenges; he recalled several unsuccessful attempts to expand dental services to rural New Mexico.

“That’s been a little bit frustrating, because there’s been an unwillingness among some of my colleagues and among some of the stakeholder groups to really engage in that discussion,” he said.

Roch said that struggle is symbolic of his mission to advocate for a part of the state that is sometimes lost in the political shuffle.

“Sometimes the rural voices can be lost. That’s why it takes someone who’s willing to stand up and say, ‘Hey, here are the needs of our rural area, and you’ve got to pay attention to us, because we’re still taxpayers. We’re still citizens of our great state, and we won’t be forgotten or overlooked,’” he said.

Rep. Randal Crowder has worked with Roch in Santa Fe, but the two have a much longer history.

“I was actually his Sunday school teacher before either one of us even knew how to spell politics,” Crowder said.

Roch’s extensive knowledge of education and House and Senate decorum made him a powerful asset to New Mexico politics, according to Crowder.

“Of course, his strength was in the field of education, and the education committee will suffer without him. He had such a depth and width of knowledge that he will be greatly missed in that way,” he said.

Education also stood out to Sen. Stuart Ingle as one of Roch’s greatest strengths.

“He was in the teaching side and principal side and superintendent side, and you know, it’s really handy,” said Ingle. “You just lose that quality of knowing what most of the budget is spent on, and that’s education. He had a good attitude for business, and trying to make the economy of New Mexico work, too.”