The Republican nominee for New Mexico's 27th House District Robert Godshall says he'd focus on crime, education, and jobs to move the area forward.

Godshall is running against Democrat Marian Matthews in the upcoming November 8 general election, according to Ballotpedia.

"Things have to change here and that's why I'm running for office," Godshall said. 

Godshall has owned a home in the district for a long time and previously served as Ward 27 vice chairman of the county's Republican Party.  According to his campaign website, he's also a Homeland Security retiree who spent most of his career protecting the nation as an ICE and Border Patrol Agent. He says in talking with law enforcement it's going to take more than just the legislature to fix the state's high crime rate.

"You could talk about hiring more police officers, and you can talk about some of the legislative mistakes that we've made like, for instance, the Democrat legislature recently removed qualified immunity as a protection for police officers," Godshall said. "They have restricted crimes that offenders can be arrested for."

He believes the number one issue facing the state is poverty.

"Poverty is so rampant in this state we are the number one state when it comes to welfare distributions," Godshall said. "Poverty is the tail that wags the dog in this state."

Other critical issues he's committed to are fixing crime, failing schools, and lack of jobs. According to his campaign website, some of his ideas include encouraging cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal authorities to reduce crime, electing people to the Legislature who will challenge students to perform better in school, and giving local businesses more resources while cutting back on government management to generate more jobs. 

Godshall is supported by the New Mexico Business Coalition, an organization aimed at promoting a pro-business environment so that small business can thrive which in turn helps create jobs and boost the state's economy.