Monica Christina Youngblood is an American politician and a former member of the

New Mexico House of Representatives The New Mexico House of Representatives () is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature. There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the South ...

. She represented District 68 (northwest

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

) from January 15, 2013 to January 15, 2019. During her three terms in the state legislature, she was known for being tough on crime, sponsoring legislation to bring back the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and supporting tougher penalties for people suspected of

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

Elections

*2012 Youngblood ran for the New Mexico House of Representatives: District 68. A seat that incumbent Democratic State Representative Thomas Garcia left open to run for 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 ...

. Youngblood ran in the four-way June 5, 2012 Republican primary and won with 763 votes, (44.7%). Then won the November 6, 2012 general election with 6,908 votes (55%) against Democratic nominee Eloise Gift. *On November 6, 2018, Youngblood lost re-election to Democratic challenger Karen Bash. Monica Youngblood was arrested on May 20, 2018 at a

sobriety checkpoint A random checkpoint is a military and police Military tactics, tactic. In a military context, checkpoints involve the setup of a hasty roadblock by mobile truck- or armored vehicle-mounted infantry to disrupt unauthorized or unwanted movement or m ...

under suspicion of

. According to police, Youngblood smelled of alcohol and her speech was slurred. She was placed under arrest after performing poorly on field sobriety tests and refusing to take a breathalyzer test. As a legislator, she had been a vocal supporter of harsher DUI penalties. She also introduced legislation to bring

Lyft Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering ride-hailing services, motorized scooters, and bicycle-sharing systems in the United States and Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic pricing model based on local supply and demand a ...

and

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

to New Mexico, due to the drunk driving problem in the state. Youngblood maintained her innocence and requested a

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...

, which was denied by the judge. After a

bench trial A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems ( Roman, Islamic) use bench trials ...

which lasted nearly four hours, she was found guilty of aggravated drunken driving. She was represented in court by

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He is on the editorial board of numerous scholarly journals and writes for ''The New Y ...

, a former justice of the

New Mexico Supreme Court The New Mexico Supreme Court () is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is established and its powers defined by Article VI of the New Mexico Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court which reviews civil and criminal ...

. She was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 48 hours in jail (with credit for one day served), in addition to one year of probation, mandatory use of an ignition interlock for one year, attendance at DUI school, completion of 24 hours of community service and payment of court costs and fees.

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
*
Monica Youngblood
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 ...

Monica C. Youngblood
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Republican Party members of the New Mexico House of Representatives Politicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico Women state legislators in New Mexico Hispanic and Latino American women in politics 21st-century American women politicians New Mexico politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century members of the New Mexico Legislature Hispanic and Latino American people in New Mexico politics American politicians of Mexican descent {{NewMexico-politician-stub