Cancer claims Portales mayor

LUBBOCK — Portales Mayor Sharon King died Thursday night in a Lubbock hospital after a lengthy battle with cancer.

She was 64.

King was Portales' first female mayor, elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.

In 2013, she was diagnosed with myeloma, a type of bone cancer. She wrote in an Aug. 8, 2013, editorial in the Portales News-Tribune that her prognosis was "excellent," and that she would be receiving chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

The disease slowed her at times, but she remained active in city business and as an advocate for the Ute Water pipeline project — she was vice chairwoman of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority — until late last year.

She announced Sept. 30 she would not seek re-election as mayor, citing health reasons.

"I'm doing well today, but I'm not sure if I can say that two weeks from now," she said at the time.

Prior to becoming mayor, she was executive director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce.

We will have more information as it becomes available.