Issues

Fentanyl Crisis

Our community is plagued with fentanyl addiction yet our District Attorney is offering plea deals to fentanyl dealers. In one case, a dealer arrested twice with a combined 1300 fentanyl pills was sentenced to one day in jail. As District Attorney, Damon will end sweetheart deals for fentanyl dealers and hold these criminals accountable for the damage they're doing to our community and families.


Violent Crime

Our daily news cycles are riddled with senseless killings, drug and gang related violence, and repeat offenses. New Mexico families no longer feel safe at baseball games, driving down the highway, or even sleeping in our own homes. The current DA is pleaing down murder charges from first degree all the way down to gun charges in some cases. Our community deserves better. Damon will try first degree murderers with first degree murder.


Damon's Platform


Bernalillo County is in a crime crisis and our District Attorney is not equipped to lead us out of it. I've spent 20 years as a prosecutor, including serving as the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, where I led an office of career professionals. I know that the DA's office is overwhelmed, and under-resourced. That's exactly why experienced leadership matters. I'm going to give the dedicated public servants in the DA's office the support they need to perform at the highest level so we can accomplish an ambitious agenda of reform that makes our community more safe. That's why I'm going to conduct a major reform of the office. We're going to turn this around, and here's how:


  • We're going to tackle the Fentanyl crisis head-on
  • No more sweetheart deals for Fentanyl dealers
  • No more pleading down Fentanyl cases to criminal trespass
  • Connect people struggling with addiction with the services they need in order to heal

  • Weed out corruption
  • The District Attorney is a critical leader in our criminal justice system and we’re not going to shy away from our responsibility to identify and prosecute corruption.
  • We’re going to notify APD when police fail to appear, not because it’s a courtesy, but because it’s our job. The District Attorney has a responsibility to get the witnesses into court, not just a courtesy to notify the police department if they don't.
  • We’re also going to partner with the Internal Affairs departments of our local law enforcement agencies to track police performance in the courts so that we can prevent corruption and identify it early if it exists.

  • Mandatory trainings on implicit bias and systemic racism
  • Systemic racism is real, and we have a moral obligation to use our positions of power to combat it, especially in the criminal justice system. My team will be trained by the best and will be equipped to ensure just, equitable outcomes for ALL New Mexicans.

  • We're going after the cartels, starting with a new Wire-Tap Department 
  • In the US Attorney's office, I ran our Wire-Tap Department for this exact reason, and it worked. We're going to do the same thing in Bernalillo County.

  • Educate our youth on alternatives to violence
  • It's important that kids know about consequences, but it's also important that they have the tools they need to feel safe. Many Bernalillo County youth say they carry guns because they don't feel safe. We're going to educate them on how to de-escalate hostile situations for themselves and those around them.
  • We’re also going to partner with city leaders to work toward increasing social-emotional supports for students and creating  restorative justice cultures in our schools and our communities.

  • We’re going to deliver both justice and respect to victims and their families
  • Victims and their families deserve to be treated with respect and they deserve justice. We’re going to honor those who have lost the most by treating them with dignity and by prosecuting with expertise.
  • First degree murderers need to be held accountable. We’re going to end the practice of pleading down first degree murders to second degree or gun charges.
  • This Office will no longer blame victims to dismiss cases. Domestic violence victims can't be blamed for not wanting to testify, but that doesn't mean their assaulters should walk free. I'm going to train my team on how to prosecute these cases without the victim's testimony.
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