Vacant New Mexico Senate seat: Here are the 8 applicants for District 26

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Eight people have applied to fill a vacant state Senate seat representing a large portion of Albuquerque’s West Side. The final decision on who will fill the seat will be determined by the Bernalillo County Commission.

Adriann Barboa, the chair of the commission, is hopeful the vote will go smoothly Tuesday night – just like it has the last five times they have had to fill a Roundhouse seat in the last two years.

Last month, Sen. Jacob Candelaria announced his resignation in a tweet. Shortly after, Bernalillo County started accepting applications to replace him. The deadline to apply was last Thursday.

There are eight applicants, including:

• Current state Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas
• Steve Gallegos, former county commissioner
• Loc Truong, the deputy director of Albuquerque’s Human Resources Department
• Julie Radoslovich, director of the South Valley Academy
• Dan Serrano, a small business owner
• Peter Zollinger, a retired Air Force veteran
• Donald Wood, a truck driver
• Em Ward, a family doctor

Commissioner Barboa said this process gets a wide range of applicants – the most she has seen is 20.