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

New Mexico Senate The New Mexico State Senate () 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. All senatorial distr ...

for the 21st district from 2013 to 2024. 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 United States Secret ...

, which he lost to Democrat

Melanie Stansbury Melanie Ann Stansbury (born January 31, 1979) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from New Mexico's 1st congressional district since 2021 New Mexico's 1st congressional district sp ...

Early life and education

Moores was born and raised in the suburbs of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

His mother, who is of

Hispano The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term. The term commonly applie ...

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 ...

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

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

to attend the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, 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 from Buenos Aires, Lobos is a fertile agricultural area known mainly because of the d ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts degree A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and later an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the Anderson School of Management.

Career

Early career

Moores was the chief of staff for Lieutenant Governor Walter Dwight Bradley 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 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 () 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 New Mexico Legislature was establ ...

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 1970 births Living people 21st-century members of the New Mexico Legislature 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 Walt Whitman High School (Maryland) alumni {{NewMexico-politician-stub