Mark David Moores (born April 28, 1970) is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the

New Mexico Senate The New Mexico Senate ( es, Senado de Nuevo México) is the upper house of the New Mexico State Legislature. The Senate consists of 42 members, with each senator representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the state ...

for the 21st district. Elected in November 2012, he took office on January 15, 2013. He was the Republican nominee for the

2021 New Mexico's 1st congressional district special election A special election was held on June 1, 2021, to fill the vacancy in New Mexico's 1st congressional district created by Representative Deb Haaland's resignation from the United States House of Representatives to become the Secretary of the Inter ...

, which he lost to Democrat

Melanie Stansbury Melanie Ann Stansbury (born January 31, 1979) is an American politician and scientist serving as the U.S. representative from New Mexico's 1st congressional district since 2021. The district includes most of Albuquerque, along with most of its s ...

Early life and education

Moores was born and raised in the suburbs of

Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. His mother, who is of

Hispano The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

descent, is originally from

Española, New Mexico Española is a city primarily in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. A portion of the central and eastern section of the city is in Santa Fe County. Founded as a railroad village some distance from the old Indian town of San Juan de lo ...

and Moores spent summers and holidays in northern New Mexico. After graduating from Walt Whitman High School, Moores moved to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

to attend the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

, where he was awarded a scholarship to play football for the

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts degree Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and later an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the Anderson School of Management.

Career

Early career

Moores was the chief of staff for Lieutenant Governor

Walter Dwight Bradley Walter Dwight Bradley (born October 30, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 27th lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico under Governor Gary Johnson from 1995 through 2003. Career Prior to his election as Lieutenant G ...

and a field representative for Congressman Steven Schiff. From 2006 to 2017, Moores was the executive director of the New Mexico Dental Association, where he was responsible for managing free dental clinics across

New Mexico Senate

In 2012, Moores ran in the three-way Republican primary for the 21st district of the

, winning with 2,020 votes (50%). He won the November 6, 2012 general election with 14,067 votes (56.6%) against incumbent Democratic Senator Lisa Curtis, who had been appointed to fill the vacancy when

Kent Cravens Kent L. Cravens (born January 25, 1960) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the New Mexico Senate from January 2001 to September 29, 2011. Early life and education Cravens was born and raised in Albuquerque, N ...

resigned. In 2016, Moores defeated Democratic nominee Gregory B. Frazier with 15,164 votes (56.09%).

2021 congressional election

In March 2021, Moores announced his candidacy for the

. He earned the Republican party's nomination at the committee selection on March 27, 2021. He faced State Representative

and former Public Lands Commissioner Aubrey Dunn Jr. in the June 1 election. Moores lost to Stansbury in the special election.

Personal life

Moores and his wife, Lisa Moores, have four children and three grandchildren.

References

External links

Official page
at the

New Mexico Legislature The New Mexico Legislature ( es, Legislatura de Nuevo México) is the legislative branch of the state government of New Mexico. It is a bicameral body made up of the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate. History The Ne ...

Campaign site
*
Mark Moores
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Mark Moores
at the National Institute on Money in State Politics 21st-century American politicians Living people Republican Party New Mexico state senators Place of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico University of New Mexico alumni American people of Spanish descent Candidates in the 2021 United States elections 1970 births Walt Whitman High School (Maryland) alumni {{NewMexico-politician-stub