Clovis Rep. Crowder won't seek re-election

New Mexico State Rep. Randal Crowder, R-Clovis, is calling it quits. He won't be seeking re-election when his current two-year term in the New Mexico House of Representatives ends in December, he said, but he will remain on duty to finish the term.

"They say when it's time, you'll know it," said Crowder, who has been part of Clovis' public life for nearly two decades. "Well, it's time."

He said he wants to get back to a quiet life, "and doing things with my hands" again.

He knows a few people who are ready to step in and represent his Clovis and Curry County 64th District in the New Mexico House, and with either, he said, "Clovis will be in good hands."

Crowder has been a member of the New Mexico House since January 2015 and, in December, he will have finished a fourth two-year term.

Crowder said he is proud of his New Mexico Legislature experience as the ranking minority member of the Legislature's House Appropriation and Finance Committee, and of his membership on the House Transportation Committee.

Because he was on the Transportation Committee, he said, he was able to secure funding for improvements on U.S. 60-84 from Cannon Air Force Base to Fort Sumner.

He also noted he was able to commit $42 million to improve U.S. 60-84 in Clovis from Prince Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Construction on that project is expected to begin in October, he said.

In addition, he said, he helped procure $5.9 million for improvements to Seventh Street in Clovis from Main Street to Oak Street, including new drainage, curbs and gutters. Construction is expected to begin soon on that project, as well, he said.

His greatest disappointment in the Legislature, he said, was the time it takes to get appropriations through.

"It just takes more time than I thought it should have," he said.

Looking back on his public career that started with election to the Clovis city commission in 2004, Crowder lists accomplishments that include establishment of an effluent reuse project, which, he said has conserved a lot of water for the city, while he was a city commissioner.

He also cites work with then-mayor David Lansford and then-City Manager Joe Thomas to set up a "cyclical bond" program for the city, which, he said, has increased funds available for many road projects in the city.

With cyclical bonding, he said, the city makes large payments to principal in the early months of a loan, which reduces interest costs and increases refinancing options in future years.

From 2011 to 2015, Crowder served on the New Mexico Interstate Streams Commission, a part of the Office of the State Engineer. Work with ISC and the state's Water Trust Board during that time, he said, laid much of the groundwork for the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authrority's Ute Lake Project.

In the 2022 Legislature, Crowder noted, the Ute Lake Project, which will deliver water from Ute Lake to Curry and Roosevelt County communities and Cannon Air Force Base, received $30 million in state funds, which will contribute to the state's 15% share of the project costs. The greatest share, 75% of the cost, will come from federal sources, with local sources contributing the remaining 10% of costs.

Currently, Crowder said, he seeks some peace and quiet.

"Not politics," he said. "Politics is not quiet."

Even though he said he had decided to retire from public life, the reasons for his decision hit home as the 2022 Legislature drew to a close last week.

"I was up all night for two nights straight debating bills," he said on Thursday after deciding to spend another night in Santa Fe rather than brave the Santa Fe area's icy roads for a drive to Clovis.

"I'm ready to come home," he said.