Former Democrat Patricia Salazar looks to revive Republican Party in deep blue Rio Arriba County

The Republican Party has been dormant in Rio Arriba County for years, with Democratic candidates frequently running unopposed in local races and the number of registered Democrats dwarfing the number of Republicans in the county by well over a 2-to-1 margin. A former Democrat is looking to change that.

Patricia Salazar was born and raised a Democrat but registered as a Republican about two years ago. She showed up to a party meeting Saturday in Chama just looking to connect with other Republicans and ended up leaving as the Rio Arriba County Republican Party chairwoman.

On the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Salazar joined Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to share her perspective on being a Republican in the Democratic stronghold and speak about her goals in her new position.

Salazar said there are many people in the county who have Republican values but have been registered as Democrats so they can vote in primaries, since the victor often runs unopposed. She said she hopes to encourage more Republicans to challenge Democrats in local elections and to raise the number of registered Republicans in the county. She doesn’t expect the change to come without great effort. “It’s going to be a long, hard battle,” she said.

Salazar also discussed her political identity and what it’s like to be a Republican in such a blue county. She discussed the experience of telling her parents, lifelong Democrats, that she was taking on a GOP leadership role and spoke about how she doesn’t want anyone to be embarrassed to admit that they’re Republican in Rio Arriba County anymore.

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