On Jan. 17, the opening day of New Mexico’s 2012 legislative session, longtime state House of Representatives Speaker Ben Luján, D-Santa Fe, stood before a hushed chamber. Luján, a diminutive man in his 70s who for years had controlled much of what happened at the capitol, had just announced that he had lung cancer and planned to retire from politics. The 2012 session would be his last. It was the end of an era.

Santa Fe County is betting on a new highly paid administrator to help it save money in the long run, and it’s willing to overlook his controversial past.

The New Mexico Supreme Court’s Feb. 10 order rejecting the latest New Mexico House of Representatives redistricting plan sent some Roundhouse Republicans into a fury.

Check out the sexy version of SFR's weekly matrix--a Love & Sex issue special!

Paul Singdahlsen has been a state employee for 18 years. Each day, he helps with maintenance work on art pieces and exhibits for the Department of Cultural Affairs. But only in the past four years has he begun to notice a trend: He and his colleagues have been taking on more work for less pay.

Do New Mexicans deserve low-cost electricity or clear skies? That question lies at the heart of the latest dust-up between federal regulators and the Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Long before Jerome Block Jr.’s third arrest for violating the conditions of his drug court program, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission had problems. In 2007, former Commissioner David King was convicted of sexually harassing his assistant; in 2008, Block and his father, Jerome Block Sr., faced allegations of election violations; in 2009, former Commissioner Carol Sloan attacked a rival with a rock.

Before learning the ins and outs of lobbying, Rainy Upton didn’t realize how difficult it could be.

On Jan. 5, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez proudly announced—per her press release—that the state’s “fiscal house is back in order.” She also introduced her budget proposal for fiscal year 2013, trumpeting one of its provisions: a $55 million tax cut.