Former school board member Catherine Cullen tosses hat in ring

RIO RANCHO — “I love to work; I love to help people,” says former Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education member Catherine Cullen.

People heading to the polls for the upcoming primary elections might want to take that to heart: Cullen, 53, is running as a Republican in District 57 since six-term state Rep. Jason Harper opted not to run again. District 57 encompasses Enchanted Hills, Mariposa, Northern Meadows, North Hills, Mountain Hawk and Cleveland Heights neighborhoods.

Now, Cullen, a Realtor by day, has her party affiliation in addition to her accomplishments on the school board and community involvement — including being on the University of New Mexico Parent Association and Sandoval County Expansion and Retention Committee — as factors in whether or not she gets two years in the House.

“I’ve always been active, as you know,” Cullen said. “The opportunity arose, where I can serve the community?”

And that’s what she wants to be doing in Santa Fe.

A second-generation Realtor, following in her father’s footsteps, the Cullens moved to New Mexico from Colorado Springs in 2002, planning to stay a few years, but she soon fell in love with the City of Vision — and a prime reason for coming here was the quality of education she could get for her two daughters.

“It’s really Rio Rancho that I love; this community is just amazing,” she said. “We have great leaders in this area.”

Coincidentally, an opportunity for a new member on the school board arose when Cullen opted not to run for re-election in District 5, since replaced by Jessica Tyler in the November 2021 election.

“I’ve followed the Legislature for many, many years, so I have some knowledge of how it works,” she said. “Obviously, you’re always going to have a learning curve, just as you’re on the school board, you’re going to have a learning curve.”

State Sen. Craig Brandt led the way from a school board seat to Santa Fe; Harper’s father, Carl Harper, was on the original school board when RRPS became an entity in 1994.

Education is the common denominator. Cullen is modest but points to her enthusiasm for career-technical opportunities for high school students, which led to the development of the CTE program and partnership with CNM for RRPS students.

Fellow board member Ryan Parra and Cullen started the ball rolling.

“That was one of the first things I came in saying, in 2013, when I started on the school board. I said we needed to get back to that,” she recalled. “I pushed for that for a long time.”

If elected, she’ll continue to back CTE, namely in seeking continued funding for school districts throughout the state.

“It’s an expensive project, to do CTE,” she said. “We need to see it across the state. We know the graduation rates — we need to have other paths and opportunities for these students to get into other careers and be successful and be able to keep up with inflation, find high-paying jobs.”

One state department where she’d like to see change is at the state public education department, “another problem with education, in that we’ve gone through so many secretaries and then they throw all that (changes) on to the school districts.”

“I plan on hitting the ground running as I did when I was on the school board; you take extra classes — I got my master board member,” she said. “Anything that I do, I take very seriously, and I do a lot of research.”

With RRPS, Cullen also helped getting take-home computers — Chromebooks — for RRPS students; worked hard to get additional state funding for fine arts and transportation; and pushed hard for armed security in the high schools.

Other goals if she wins a seat in Santa Fe: making health care more accessible and less expensive; bringing more business to New Mexico; slowing the “brain drain” — New Mexico college graduates leaving the state for better-paying jobs elsewhere; getting more “crime bills” passed, as she’s not the only New Mexican tired of what’s referred to as “catch and release” — and her family has been crime victims multiple times.

“Mental health is an issue we’ve talked about,” she said. “We do need to have more resources for mental health, and we need to be able to fund these.”

With all the needs of the state, Cullen doesn’t want to see the billions from oil and gas go away.

“I’m not someone who wants to have an electric car, but we should have choices, and oil and gas is such an important part of our state budget. I mean, so when they’re talking about going to EV (electric vehicles) and reducing our oil and gas (revenues), how are we going to supplement our budget?” she said. “You should be able to have choices. If I want to have an electric car, great.”

Cullen is also sensitive to the needs of the military; her husband Richard served in the Army and New Mexico Army National Guard.

Harper wanted to pass along some advice for whoever succeeds him in Santa Fe: "I have been very effective in the legislature, even while in the minority. I have found that it is super important to listen, build relationships and come to the middle. Rio Rancho families want us to solve the real problems they face, not stand on our desks and yell at each other."

John Dantonio Jr. and Corrine Rios are also on the GOP ticket in the June 4 primary.