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Real News For Real New Mexicans.
The Chile Wire with Abe Baldonado. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The Chile Wire. This week, my guest is Corey Zimmerman.
Abe Baldonado:He is a candidate for House District 26. Corey, thank you for coming on The Chile Wire.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, thanks for having me. This is I've been looking forward to this for a couple of
Abe Baldonado:weeks. Absolutely. We've been we've been trying to plan it out and get you in the studio.
Corey Zimmerman:So this is great. Yeah. Got sick and water main or stuff like that broke at your house. We had all kinds of issues today. Today worked really well.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. Well, we're gonna have a good discussion and Corey, I gotta hit you with one of the hardest questions you're gonna get today and I didn't tell you this, so you gonna catch you off guard.
Corey Zimmerman:Let's do it.
Abe Baldonado:Red or green? Xmas. Alright.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, okay. So if you're gonna do something like beef or stuff like that, you know, it takes a little bit better.
Abe Baldonado:With bread?
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And then when if you're gonna do some chicken, you know, it can kinda go back and forth, but yet, it's hard to choose. They're both Yeah. So flavorful. I actually will choose sometimes if they have a little bit milder because I'm from North Dakota originally.
Corey Zimmerman:Mhmm. Born and Raised her for maybe the first four or five years of my life. And so when it gets too hot, because I got a nurse out there, hopefully she's watching. She tried to kill me. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:Because she goes, no, he can take it. I have never had my face turn a deep dark purple and I'm bald. And so it goes all the way back and I'm sweating
Abe Baldonado:out I of my was gonna say.
Corey Zimmerman:I'm like, how can you sweat from your eyeballs? Yeah. You know, so That's
Abe Baldonado:when you know the chili is good when the sweat starts coming in right under the eyeball and right right on your mustache, you know. That's when you know, like, oh,
Corey Zimmerman:I'm going to Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. No. You can't go wrong with Christmas. No. Gotta love New Mexico culture and cuisine.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, yeah. Yeah. And it's got the best. You go to any other place, no. It's the best.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. I know Colorado believes they have green chile, but they don't.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. Do they really? Yeah. I don't I haven't seen it yet. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:It's been out there a bunch of times.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. It might be a bell pepper.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:Corey, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I wanna talk today a little bit and I want folks to know who Corey Zimmerman is. And and so we'll dive into your district, what area you're running for. But for right now, I just kinda wanna give you a moment, share a little bit about who you are and what inspired you to run-in this race.
Corey Zimmerman:So I'm actually a pastor's kid.
Abe Baldonado:Mhmm.
Corey Zimmerman:I grew up and my dad has moved us around throughout the country and then I met my wife here and got married on top of the Sandia Mountains in 2002. Nice. I actually chose the spot and everything. It was an amazing wedding. I felt called to become a pastor myself, so we moved around.
Corey Zimmerman:And so, I've done the pastor thing, intern, youth pastor, three church district, but I felt a calling to, chaplaincy ministry. And so we came back here and I did a thirteen month at Presbyterian. I did all kinds of things and learned a lot of, great tools and all that kind of stuff. And so, that's kind of my background. I've lived in quite a few places in the country, and the only thing that was open was a hospice.
Corey Zimmerman:And so since 2014, I've been working in the hospice in various different companies starting or helping to build up the chaplain and also grief support groups. I've done lots of that, started it. And so I have a lot of experience doing those things and it's been a fabulous career. I got some great people that I work with and one that's trying to to murder me with green and red chili. Right?
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And I've been friends with her since 2014. Great nurse. Not saying her name because
Abe Baldonado:yeah. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:I will be buried out in the desert somewhere.
Abe Baldonado:Well, I think she's preparing you as you're now running for office and you go to the restaurants in your district Yeah. You could handle the heat.
Corey Zimmerman:I can't handle the heat. But So I've been doing those kind of things, for since 2014 successfully. And, you know, why did I get into this race? Well, a buddy of mine decided, he needed to start a podcast and to help his cousin and, got on that Cody wrenches and road and turning down the rabbit hole. And so it talks about all kinds of conspiracy things, you know, things that, you know, I don't agree with, some things they do agree with, but I was like learning new things and we're talking about New Mexico and what's going on and and, yeah, the s p 17 came out.
Corey Zimmerman:And I was like, wait a minute. Why would they want to enact this law? It would take away from, hunters, people that like just to go shooting. It would shut down all the shops and you would have to go to Texas, Arizona, or Colorado. It's like that doesn't make any sense.
Corey Zimmerman:You know, we need thriving businesses here. Yeah. And, you know, I I think people it doesn't matter if you're a Republican, Independent, Democrat, or non affiliated, you know, people enjoy guns. Yeah. People enjoy the safety of it, and people actually like to go out hunting to provide for their families because things are so expensive.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:So I got angry. And Facebook posting was like, hey, there's nobody running for these districts. And I was like, Which district am I? So I typed it in and I was like, hey, I'm in District 26, which I found out most of the people in my district have no idea which district they're in Interesting. Their representative is and a lot of things.
Corey Zimmerman:And so I have been doing a lot of education after I educated myself. Yeah. And so I was asked, hey, I need you to come and check out this meeting. We're gonna be talking about, you know, people that are running. And so I was like, okay.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. I I I can be there for a little bit of time because I'm on a podcast. And so I showed up and I got introduced, running for District 26. And I was like,
Abe Baldonado:oh That's how they get you.
Corey Zimmerman:God. Yeah. I was like, okay, God. So I've been complaining, and mouthing, you know, saying things and I was like, someone's gotta fix it. Someone's gotta do it.
Corey Zimmerman:And, God did a one eighty on me. Yeah. And he goes, you're the person. You're it. And so I went home to my wife and I said, I think I'm gonna be the, candidate for District 26.
Corey Zimmerman:And she goes, oh, okay. What does that mean? That means I'm gonna be fighting for our rights and helping New Mexico District 26 especially be better. Yeah. You know, find what we need to be strong and so that we can succeed as a a community and then as a state.
Corey Zimmerman:So that's how I got in and she's been behind me, as she's been doing her doctorate. She goes, I'll show up, but, I got classes.
Abe Baldonado:I got a lot of stuff going on.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. So she's she's a busy woman. Yeah. She has her own
Abe Baldonado:You got the moral support.
Corey Zimmerman:That's all. I got the moral support. Yeah. And so I've been hitting the doors ever since and learning this new craft of being a representing the people because as a chaplain, as a pastor, I represent the people in that connection to to God and pointing them back.
Abe Baldonado:Well, I I was gonna add that, you know, you you've been a public servant.
Corey Zimmerman:I am a public servant.
Abe Baldonado:You've been enriched in being, you know, a servant leader. And I think, you know, unfortunately, your opponent lacks servant leadership. I think a lot of our roundhouse lacks servant leadership. And so to have folks like you who come in, who have that servant leadership mentality that do it for a living. I mean Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:Essentially, as a chaplain, you're working with families at their most vulnerable moments Yes. Of, you know, grief And, and you know, to be able to have a conversation with them, guide them through what is probably one of the most difficult times in their life.
Corey Zimmerman:It is.
Abe Baldonado:And so being able to guide them, you know, to have that skill set in our roundhouse, I think lends very well. I think it changes the dynamic of the roundhouse and I think it's severely needed. And so I think you've already been kind of prepared for this. Yeah. To work with people, to talk with people, to understand.
Abe Baldonado:You know, I think one thing that frustrates me is, you know, there's this narrative that, you know, conservatives are aren't compassionate. You know, they try to say, oh, they lack empathy. No. We're compassionate. Oh.
Abe Baldonado:We're very compassionate, you know. And so but, you know, they try to drive that narrative that, you know, they wanted to take this away. They and the reality is you brought up Senate Bill 17. I mean, they're really the ones trying to take your rights away. Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:You know, when you start and when you have leaders who tell you that this bill is unconstitutional, but yet still vote yes for it, that is a problem. Like, that is telling me, hey. I am not gonna live up to my oath that I made to uphold constitution of The United States and the state of New Mexico, and I'm gonna vote on something that I deep down know is unconstitutional. I know it's wrong. I know it violates the second amendment.
Corey Zimmerman:But it's waste of time. It is. You think about it, waste of time, money, manpower because the Supreme Court is gonna knock it down Yeah. Just like they've done so or so many other things.
Abe Baldonado:And let's go back and let's you know, yesterday, I saw an NBC poll of 3,000 respondents. 80% of those respondents feel like they had not been adequately taught government and civics.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:And so what happens? You get legislators like your your opponent and the incumbent, Eleanor Chavez, who support bills that are unconstitutional that violate, you know, the second amendment and a whole lot of other rights, but they are taking advantage and capitalizing on, maybe uninformed population or, you know, a constituency that may not be as involved. And when I hear that a lot of US adults feel like, hey, I really don't know my civic duty. I I don't I don't know the foundations of a government. I don't believe I was adequately taught that.
Abe Baldonado:You know, you get people like your opponent who then capitalize on it for self gain and, you know, being being part of a system that truly undermines the foundations of our country.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And so what I'm bringing into this whole thing is, as a chaplain, I had to go in and different companies had different policies and that kind of stuff. And so I got to sit down with families and help sign them on. The nurse did the nurse part, but I would go over the EOBs, explanation of benefits. So I had to know them from front to back and be able to explain how they work and advocate for these families.
Corey Zimmerman:And also, I'm not pushing them into anything because this is a very vulnerable place. And so I'm gonna be bringing that in because, you know, like you said, the civic duties and all this kind of stuff, you know, people just don't know. And so
Abe Baldonado:Well, they need they need a leader who's going to talk to them. You know,
Corey Zimmerman:I Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:Clearly, I I don't think from what we were chatting with, you know, before we jumped in the show, it just seems like a lot of the folks that you've talked to in your district are just completely unaware. And if they're unaware, that tells me that representative Eleanor Chavez has failed them because she has not proactively talked to them about the issues and what's happening, what she is doing.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:And so she's relying on a small amount of folks who back her.
Corey Zimmerman:Mhmm.
Abe Baldonado:And, you know, she carries the the water for their agenda and they elect her year after year. But most of the constituents don't know who she is or what she does or what she's actually doing. I mean, if they knew that she said that our police force, whether it's ICE or our local law enforcement or APD officers, she said they're equivalent to the KKK. That is dangerous
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:Rhetoric. Like, that is that is that is irresponsible as a leader to say that, you know, you are inciting and you're being very divisive, and it is dangerous. And that is not your duty as a leader, as someone who's elected as a statesman or a stateswoman, you have a duty to uphold. And Yeah. You know, again, when you start undermining law enforcement and you start choosing the sides of criminals to say, hey.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. You know what? Law enforcement is bad. Hey, you know what? You're you're promoting crime.
Abe Baldonado:You're saying, hey, you know what? Criminals, go do your thing because guess what? The our law enforcement is evil and they're just out to get you. We're not gonna hold you accountable.
Corey Zimmerman:No. We're gonna let you go, you know, go through and just continue to, hurt our society, hurt our own constituents, hurt District 26. You know, we see all kinds of things and we're like wondering, why isn't this being fixed? Why isn't And then it's like, oh, so if they're KKK, they're evil, so we need to fight against them. Mhmm.
Corey Zimmerman:But they're there to protect us to, you know, there's some
Abe Baldonado:some bad They're the first line of defense. If something is happening Yeah. You're calling 911, you're calling law Everybody
Corey Zimmerman:need most people are calling 911, right? They're saying, hey, come help me, come save me because that's what they're there for. And those those men and women, they put their lives on the line. They went through tough training, right, just to do this and some come out of our armed forces and they're just highly educated and they want to help. They they love their community and they're putting our their lives on the line and they're like, I'm
Abe Baldonado:not KK. I'm a human. I'm a dad. I'm a mom.
Corey Zimmerman:I'm a
Abe Baldonado:you know? And I Yeah. You know, I also have to protect myself Yeah. From the dangers of this job.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And and they they love America.
Abe Baldonado:Mhmm.
Corey Zimmerman:Otherwise, why would they do this? You know, it would make no sense. Yeah. Right? And so, what's going on?
Corey Zimmerman:This this Reddit doesn't belong in the roundhouse. And if you have, then you need to find something else because it's the wrong place. We need to be united. And that's what I do. I talk to everybody.
Corey Zimmerman:You know, it's it doesn't matter, who you are, what your affiliation is or non affiliation. I will talk to you and sit down and help guide you, give you the best answers possible. And if I don't know, I was like, hey, I don't know. Let me go find it. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:Let me find out what the answer is. And there's usually somebody that I can connect to and say, hey, got this issue. What's going on? And how can we make it better? Or how can we give the best answer?
Corey Zimmerman:Or can you come in and elaborate on how to do this? That's that's servant leadership Mhmm. Of your people. And, you know, this isn't just, you know, someone else's or whatever else. This is my family too.
Corey Zimmerman:This is my wife, my kids. They need someone to stand up and say, hey, we need someone to advocate Yeah. On our behalf and make sure that we move the right direction and not continue going down the this this divisive and destructive. There's shootings all over the place. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:So I drive for a living, you know, because my district has always been Placitas, Bernalillo, Rio Rancho, all on the West Side, all the way down to Berlin. On Coors, I've seen people shoot at each other.
Abe Baldonado:And I'm like This is your work district. Right? Like, just
Corey Zimmerman:to Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:To give our viewers and Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:And I've I've done the East Side. So I've worked quite a bit of, Albuquerque and that kind of stuff. And like, no, this isn't how we live. This isn't civility. This is chaos.
Corey Zimmerman:This is anger ramped up by rhetoric of people
Abe Baldonado:Or anarchists.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, yeah.
Abe Baldonado:I mean, it's safe to say that sometimes they may be anarchists.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. Yeah. And how does that help our community? How does that help our society, come together, fix issues, fix problems, and make sure that, you know, we thrive as a district, as a state because we are we have so much potential. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:You know?
Abe Baldonado:We we are a state that does not lack resources. We have the resources. We have the means. Unlike a lot of other states who beat us economically, you know, Arizona is one. But Arizona doesn't have oil and gas.
Abe Baldonado:They don't have the natural resources that we have. No. And so, you know, yes, we have a lot of government spending, but what we always try to drive on this podcast is what does that got you in New Mexico? You know, we we get the government gets a lot of money from our oil and gas industry. They spend a lot of it, but where's the return on investment?
Abe Baldonado:We're dead last in education. We're forty ninth in economic well-being. I mean, we're we're celebrating mediocrity if I mean, if we can call it mediocrity. And I think we need to have higher expectations of our state, our leaders to say, hey, we're we're just tired of being last. Like, we don't have to be last.
Abe Baldonado:We need to build an accountability into our programs. You know, if we are gonna spend this amount of money on this program, well, what are the accountability key performance indicators that we're gonna build into that, that we're gonna look at and say, hey, this is working. This is not working. And we can, you know, modify if needed. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of that.
Abe Baldonado:We just throw a lot of money saying, hey, you know what? We're just gonna invest a lot of money. It's gonna fix the problem itself. And it never fixes itself. It just gets drastically worse.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And we're we got it's a bucket. Right?
Abe Baldonado:Mhmm.
Corey Zimmerman:So oil and gas fill the bucket. You know? So all the things that we do for our communities and the roads, all that kind of stuff, it comes in from oil and gas. They are the major supporter of this state. And thank you oil and gas for doing it because if it if not, all these great things that we get to do, it's gone.
Corey Zimmerman:Mhmm. And it seems like they are shutting the faucet of oil and gas into our bucket and turning on the spout, pouring things out, eventually, what's left? It's an empty bucket and, you know, maybe drips coming in, and that's not what New Mexico needs. New Mexico needs our education to excel and to be better. We need to put people in that, want our kids to do that and figure out how can we move this around so that we can be number one.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. Because we have that potential.
Abe Baldonado:Oh, totally. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:We got some of the smartest
Abe Baldonado:We have amazing people in our state.
Corey Zimmerman:We have The labs. Yeah. Which has like the highly intelligent people. Yeah. You know, it's they're doing things that We
Abe Baldonado:have the future. We have generations that are ready and they desire Oh, yeah. To be led that way. We're Yeah. We're not doing it.
Abe Baldonado:We're saying, you know what? We're gonna it's it's the soft bigotry of low expectations. It's, you can't do this because you're Hispanic or because of your economic circumstances. You just won't be able to do this, so we're gonna lower the bar for you. And what I found during my time in the classroom is that when you set the bar high, these kids deliver.
Abe Baldonado:Man, they deliver. These kids, they wanna be challenged, but they have to be challenged. If they don't feel challenged, they're they're not gonna try hard. They're you know, but when you have educators that are pushing them and driving them to pull out their best
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:They show up and they deliver. And we need a system, a state that says we're gonna set the expectations high for our students, for our employees. Like, we are gonna set the bar high. We're gonna set the bar high for ourselves as elected officials. Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:You know, we're gonna build some accountability in for ourselves as well that, know, we're not gonna pass blame when something doesn't work. Well, hey, that was our fault.
Corey Zimmerman:And we should never give up. I didn't give up. I'm dyslexic. Found out when I was 25. I actually got tested here at, CNM.
Corey Zimmerman:I went to school here and, I was failing. I I just couldn't figure it out. It turns out that I flip letters and I flip numbers. Apparently, I'm really good at math. But I'm like, why isn't this working?
Corey Zimmerman:And it was actually New Mexico that figured out what was going on. And teachers here were like, oh, I can get you to pass. I got pre calc. Mhmm. I passed pre calc and I started succeeding.
Corey Zimmerman:I got my master's degree in one of my high school, teachers from Minnesota where I used to live. Met up with her in Michigan. I was getting my master's and she goes, how did you get here? And I go, well, found out that I'm dyslexic. And, I just kept pushing.
Corey Zimmerman:I was like, I wanted a better life. And so all those New Mexicans, you want a better life. Do not let anybody put you down. Yeah. Zero.
Corey Zimmerman:Keep pushing, keep asking. I was 25 when I figured it out, and that teacher looked at me, she's like, you weren't supposed to go and pass college. You barely passed high school. You should've gone to like the dumb things like trade or work
Abe Baldonado:And those aren't even the dumb things. That is crazy that I was like And I I recently had this conversation on a previous podcast with Kaz Martinez who runs Sendero Prep in Las Cruces. Yeah. And they work they're a reengagement school. And so they reengaged students who have fallen out of the system, you know, or maybe early adults Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:That didn't finish high school and they try to reengage them to get into trades programs. And I mentioned to Kaz about, you know, I'm a millennial, but growing up, we were told that you have to go to college to be successful and that isn't And we we diverted a large generation away from the trades Yeah. Saying you all have to get four year degrees, you all have to be scholars. And it wasn't made for everybody. College isn't made for everybody.
Abe Baldonado:There are certain talents and skills that people have. Unfortunately, had a system tell them, no, you have to go to school because that's the only way you're successful. And, you know, I used to tell my students, I'm like, you will do better as a plumber, a mechanic, as a Welder. Welder. Oh.
Abe Baldonado:I mean Yeah. Carpenter. You name it. You will do better than me than just a political science guy, you know Yeah. That, you know, you will you will have a tangible skill that you can sell and people are always going to need.
Abe Baldonado:People don't always need a political scientist, you know? And sometimes, I I would say that scholars have hurt America because they they get this, I'm a scholar. I know better than you. Yeah. This is why capitalism is bad.
Abe Baldonado:And it's like, wait, what? What do you mean? No. Because guess what? If you're a mechanic or you're a welder, capitalism is good for
Corey Zimmerman:you. You start
Abe Baldonado:a business.
Corey Zimmerman:You
Abe Baldonado:become an entrepreneur. You become competitive. You create a business model that is focused on customers and guess what? You build wealth. You build jobs.
Abe Baldonado:You create you become a job creator because now you create something big and now you can hire people, employ people and hopefully they do the same. They take that experience and they branch off eventually and you know what? They might become your competitor and that's a good thing.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And people that are great with their hands and that's what they like to do, we should encourage them because those trades are highly sought after. More and more and more and people have backed away and said, no. No. But, Mike Rowe, dirtiest jobs keeps talking about it.
Corey Zimmerman:And I was like, where was he when I was younger? You know, because I could have gone into trade and I I probably could have been a multi millionaire by now. Yeah. Just because trade definitely has a lot of incentives.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And if we teach strong entrepreneurial skills of to build a business. Yeah. I mean, man, you are teeing these generations up for success. And so I'm glad that we're going back.
Abe Baldonado:We're we're stopping the the stigma that trades and blue collar is like such a bad thing because it's not. Like, end of the day, everyone needs a mechanic. Everyone needs an electrician. Like, that is just the world we live in. So you will always have job security in those roles.
Corey Zimmerman:My buddy, Lewis, yeah, he has holds all the contractor's license, plumbing, electrical, and all that kind of stuff. And his brother's guiding him into it. He would you know, worked up in towels here, and he told his son, you will have a trade. You will do something, and he did welding. And he goes, if something happens, you know, whatever, you know, future, we don't know what's But gonna because of that, you will have a job.
Corey Zimmerman:You will have an
Abe Baldonado:You have a skill that you can market.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And then if you wanna go to college and all that kind of stuff, you can do that on the side and pay your way through college. And I was like, that was super smart. And I'm talking to my son and to to do that too. And, you know, he's very motivated with, like, science and, programming, all that kind of stuff, but he wants to do learn how to to weld.
Corey Zimmerman:And I was like, that is perfect because when you get down the road and you need some extra money, there it is. Yeah. You know, welders, you you do make good money. And you do you know, it's it's a hard job, but it's a trade that is so needed.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I have a cousin who just wrapped up his pipe fitting certifications and everything. So I'm like, dude, you're gonna be doing very good and if you ever wanna move away he he's working in Northern New a lot of them work for Los Alamos National Labs as well.
Abe Baldonado:But I said, hey, the oil and gas industry always needs some pipe fitters and they'll pay you handsomely too.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, they do.
Abe Baldonado:Have some good opportunities if you ever wanna just expand your horizons. There there's some opportunities out there.
Corey Zimmerman:And then you can also patent some of
Abe Baldonado:those ideas.
Corey Zimmerman:My wife's grandfather did that. He did the oil fields for years and he's got some patents and that's generational wealth.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. You you come from North Dakota, man. North Dakota Yeah. New Mexico jumped over North Dakota in oil and gas production, so go New Mexico.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:But yeah. North Dakota is right up there in the energy sector.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, it is. And it's we need the energy. And and also, we can't do this. Can't do a podcast. Can't drive a car.
Abe Baldonado:I have quality health care.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:I mean, your hospitals are a lot of the materials they use are derived petroleum products.
Corey Zimmerman:And all those people that say they're against petroleum and all that kind of stuff, they drive cars, they take planes.
Abe Baldonado:They wear the stretchy clothes.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. They have the, you know, glasses because, you know, I'm nearsighted. Right? And so everything has petroleum in it and we need it for our society. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:Whether good or bad, we need it and it it keeps our society moving forward. So many industries are just, able to utilize it so that they can figure out new and, inventive ways to, create more jobs, create more, technology and is without it, we would crumble.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:All our all our solar panels. Mhmm. Our wind
Abe Baldonado:Wind. Yeah. Our wind It's all,
Corey Zimmerman:you know, pretty much oil and gas based because how do you get the the things Yeah. And then what are they made out of?
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. The parts, everything.
Corey Zimmerman:Yes. And so it's like, yeah, I I'm for it.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. You get it.
Corey Zimmerman:I get it because, you know, I I I've done the research and had the conversations.
Abe Baldonado:This is what I hope, Corey, is when you win House District 26, because I'm gonna manifest it for you, when you win House District 26, I think it's important for you to educate your constituents about because I think there's this disconnect between urban and rural that sometimes Albuquerque residents don't realize just how much they're supported by the oil and gas industry because out of sight, out of mind. Right? Yeah. So they it's not developed in their backyard, but it's right down the road Yeah. In Southeast New Mexico.
Abe Baldonado:And I think sometimes people don't put the dots together and I think this is where it's important that servant leaders talk to your communities and connect the dots for them saying, hey, no, you know what? You've been misled. The oil and gas industry is not bad. They have innovated far beyond what you can imagine to make drilling practices safer, to deliver the cleanest barrel of oil and gas in the entire world is Yeah. Developed in New Mexico because of our stringent regulations.
Abe Baldonado:So when that barrel is derived from from the ground in New Mexico, it is the cleanest barrel of oil and gas because of the the the regulations that we have in place that when you compare it across the entire world, we did it safer and better than anybody.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And and then we wanna shut it down in New Mexico and get it from another country that it's it's pretty bad. Yeah. And was like, wait, wait, wait. We should be the forefront.
Corey Zimmerman:We should be the ones that are developing it and bringing it out and And marketing it. Marketing and Well, I had I
Abe Baldonado:I had some friends ask me, you know, well, if we produce our own oil and gas, are we still still paying high gas prices if we're energy independent? I said, because the world market for oil is not a US figure. It is it's priced on global Yes. Global trade.
Corey Zimmerman:So In global future.
Abe Baldonado:I said, yes, we have our own energy independence. Unfortunately, because oil and gas is traded on a global scale, it goes by global demand and need. So if prices are up for that barrel of oil, well, you're gonna pay more even though we have it in our own backyard. And I said, we also lack, and this is where some states like New Mexico fell, is that we refuse to allow the development of refineries. We could actually make it even cheaper if we had our own refineries.
Abe Baldonado:Unfortunately, a lot of our oil and gas guys have to send it somewhere else to get refined and then have to ship it back, and so that increases a little bit of cost as well. So I I just think it's really important for leaders to it is your duty to educate your constituents on policy issues and we don't see a whole lot of that anymore. A lot of it is misleading. It it's misinforming your constituents And sometimes, you know, I hate to believe that it is purposeful, but it probably is. And it and so I I have a very big issue with leaders intentionally misinforming their constituents on particular issues because constituents look.
Abe Baldonado:A busy mom, a busy dad working multiple jobs, I don't expect them to take the time to read a bill and actually find out what it really what it really entails. Like, hey. This is what it actually does. That's where your job as a public servant steps in. It's your job to talk to them.
Abe Baldonado:If you take a vote on a bill and they're upset with you about why you took that vote, it is your job to educate them why and and let them know, hey, This bill was actually going to hurt you. I know you don't like oil and gas, but in the long run, it was going to hurt you. And on that note, let me share with you what I've learned about the oil and gas industry. Let me tell you about, you know, going down to Southeast New Mexico and getting on a rig and seeing the process, seeing the setup, seeing the the safety measures that have been now been in place. You know, I've seen it.
Abe Baldonado:I've invited educators when I worked for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. We brought educators and folks down from the public education department to see the oil and gas industry at the forefront. Hey. This is what it looks like every day for And these when we went there, I'll never forget. This lady says, I was expecting to see oil spewing out the ground.
Abe Baldonado:And everyone's like, what are you talking about? Like
Corey Zimmerman:That's dangerous.
Abe Baldonado:She's like, I'm like, this isn't, you know, the Beverly Hillbillies. Like, this isn't like Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:Rifle and
Abe Baldonado:This is in 1921 when
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:You know, we first discovered black gold. And then she got to see the safety technology that has now built been built in and the systems built where, you know, there's this war room and the guys are on the computer. They're monitoring the the stats and making sure that, hey, levels look good, pressures look good, there's no leaking. Like, they are monitoring it. So don't believe everything that you're hearing of, hey.
Abe Baldonado:They're just spewing out oil and gas all over. They're releasing tons of methane in the air. No. There are regulations in place, and there's new technologies that these industries have innovated that are protecting the workers, protecting the the their communities. And I I said, look, everyone that works here, guess what?
Abe Baldonado:Their kids go to school right down the road. Yeah. So they care for clean air, clean water.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, yeah.
Abe Baldonado:And and so, again, it's just dialogue, man. You have to have honest and open conversations with folks and and share with them the knowledge that you obtain or the experience that you have at the Brown House. It is your duty to share that with your constituents, not misinform them because of larger political agendas. And unfortunately, I think we see a little bit of that. And Corey, be mindful of your time, on that note, I I do wanna just pitch.
Abe Baldonado:You win House District 26 January, you're sworn in. What is one of the first pieces of legislation you'd like to see pushed through?
Corey Zimmerman:So I've been talking to doctors, CEOs, and other people, and I decided to do something about the health care because, from 2019 to '20, '24, about eight point one percent of our doctors have left. And I don't know about you guys, but my doctors have left or quit or retired. We have a lot of baby boomers and they're retiring. They're they're done. Or what they're doing is they're going to Arizona, Colorado, or Texas and practicing medication or whatever, X-ray, MRI.
Corey Zimmerman:Had a lady goes, hey. You have a family member in this state, in Texas. How are they, at their hospital? How are they what are they paying? And I'm like, wait a minute.
Corey Zimmerman:Are you jumping ship? We need you. And so I've been talking. I got some great feedback, and I talked to Chris Crane. He's also running.
Corey Zimmerman:He's in your district. Mhmm. And we, put together a bill that, we're gonna be, putting out there and it's, no tax for health care workers in the health care system.
Abe Baldonado:And would that cover like your doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners? I mean, health care kind of broad.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. Are we making it broad?
Abe Baldonado:Broad? Workers, you know, our
Corey Zimmerman:Social middle level workers, mental health, dentist.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Dentists.
Corey Zimmerman:Hey. You know, if this continues to to to go down the road because Presbyterians stopped taking Medicare and stuff, Medicaid, and we're like, wait. Wait. Wait. If they do it, where do our elderly go?
Abe Baldonado:And on that note, what does that mean for New Mexico that is severely reliant on Medicaid and Medicare? Yeah. Right? So now you lack access to health care.
Corey Zimmerman:And so what we're in this bill, we're also saying we want 15 to we want 20% reimbursement, the increase to 20%, and so that these places can, use that money and so they can put it into the doctors and the workers and all that kind of stuff. You know, CEOs, they do really well. Right? But, you know, we also need the janitors and all these other people and be able to make sure that those systems thrive, and we need the we need more hospitals. Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:We need more clinics. In District 26, we need more. In fact, District 26, if you don't know it, it goes all the way out to the prison on South Of The 40. Right? And that's where the growth is gonna happen.
Corey Zimmerman:The South and North Of The 40. And I would like to see a hospital there because that would decrease the time for people that had medical emergencies to get to the hospital because there's a lot of people in our area, right? And they'd be amazing. So we want to increase to 20% reimbursement. And then we also want to get rid of the GRT, grocery street tax.
Corey Zimmerman:So when you and I go in to see a doctor, we have to pay a coinsurance. Yeah. That's what they get taxed on. And so we're like, let's get rid of that. And so we're make we're gonna make an incentive for doctors to stay here.
Corey Zimmerman:And also, we wanna take the tort reform and break it down to all the way to what Texas and Arizona is doing. The max is $750,000 that a person can get. And so we can compete with Texas Yeah. Colorado and Arizona because they are practicing their law here.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Because it's a it's it's moneymaker.
Corey Zimmerman:$16,000,000.
Abe Baldonado:Yep. It lines up their pockets.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. This is why this is one of the, you know, greatest reasons why doctors and other health care people are just leaving because they can go to another state and they don't have to worry about the loss of their home, their finances, everything. And so if we make it so that the doctors can thrive here and be safe, we want them to come, we want them to stay because we have UNM Health Science, right? It's a great university is putting out just tremendous doctors and everything else, right?
Abe Baldonado:But they're leaving.
Corey Zimmerman:We want them to stay. And you know, there's $300,000 they can put towards their school loans, right? We wanna make it so that they're like, yeah, we wanna do that and they find out I could start a practice here. I can start whatever else. So the entrepreneurship will increase and so people are like, hey, where's the money gonna come from?
Corey Zimmerman:It's going to come from that. Right. Because we get influx of doctors, social workers, mental health. We get influx of nurses. We get influx of all these other things that run hospitals and, our economy starts building up and people will be looking at New Mexico as the place to go instead of going to Texas, Colorado, and Arizona.
Abe Baldonado:Fix our education system. We even give them a little bit more of incentive, like, we have some of the best schools here that you can send your kids to.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And the other thing that drives people away is from all the the violence and and criminal and all that kind of stuff. And we can slow that down and reverse that. Yeah. And people like, why wouldn't I stay?
Corey Zimmerman:The education has gotten so much greater, but the crime rate has dropped.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Quality of life. Yeah. Health health, life expectancy.
Corey Zimmerman:And we
Abe Baldonado:have, like, one of
Corey Zimmerman:the most amazing states, you know, because we're like
Abe Baldonado:Geographically, we are gorgeous.
Corey Zimmerman:White water kayaking. We have a mountain climbing. We got hiking, backpacking. We got some incredible lakes and rivers. People have come all over the place, even people that are movie buffs or Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:What do they call it? The actors Yeah. And actresses, they come here because this is a beautiful land.
Abe Baldonado:Texans love New Mexico.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, yeah.
Abe Baldonado:They love Rio Dosso.
Corey Zimmerman:Oh, yeah. Red River.
Abe Baldonado:Red River.
Corey Zimmerman:They bring all their yeah. Their their toys too.
Abe Baldonado:Oh, yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:It is a beautiful, amazing place and we need to flip it around and so that people wanna work here. People wanna start their businesses. We want people to be entrepreneurs, heavily entrepreneurs. And, you know, when we're building, right, all these hospitals, what do they need? They need people of the craft of, welding Mhmm.
Corey Zimmerman:Carpentry, all, you know, plumbing, electrical, fiber optic, you know, we're gonna be increasing
Abe Baldonado:all I mean, computer science is there now to you? Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:We're at the forefront of a big I I believe we're in a new industrial revolution that The US can lead, especially in the AI. I think if we use it responsibly, it can be a game changer for Americans
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:And for for our state to to lead it, you know. And I know there are some valid concerns with data centers and how much energy they take up. I know New Mexico is at the forefront of doing it responsibly, and I think it is valid to have conversations to make sure that if we are gonna do it, we do it better than anyone. Unfortunately, I know there are some folks out there that wanna just be like, no. No.
Abe Baldonado:No. And I'm like, hey. We're gonna miss out on a great opportunity for New Mexico to diversify its economy and also lead in the start of this new industrial revolution. You know? And I know the president just signed an executive order for America to lead on quantum, you know, now.
Abe Baldonado:So we have some opportunities that exist and, you know, and I understand that as New Mexicans, we wanna conserve or some also wanna preserve, our traditions and values and protect our our resources and rightfully so. We should do it responsibly. But I also think that we shouldn't turn it down either. Let's work towards solutions to build an accountability mechanism to say, hey. If we allow these data centers, if we allow these new new developments in AI, and infrastructure that we're gonna do it better than anyone in New Mexico.
Abe Baldonado:That if you come here, there's gonna be accountability built in and some responsibility, but we're also gonna give an opportunity for New Mexicans to have a pathway to some really cool jobs in the future. Yeah. And we start team that pipeline up. You know, a lot of people fail to realize that New Mexico missed out on being the semi valley of America. You know, we had Amazon here.
Abe Baldonado:We had Microsoft. All those were here. We still have Intel. But there was a possibility that Rio Rancho could have been the semi valley. You know, we missed out because of poor business practices.
Abe Baldonado:And I love that you brought up, you know, removing GRT. That's kind of one of the big, hindrances that we've seen is that businesses don't come here because we have a very unfavorable GRT tax. So if we can remove that. And I'm also big on let's repeal the income tax. Like, hey, let people keep their money because that money that they get keep, it gets pumped back out into the economy anyway.
Corey Zimmerman:And, you know, for They
Abe Baldonado:invest, they buy houses.
Corey Zimmerman:Are people that retired, right?
Abe Baldonado:Mhmm.
Corey Zimmerman:You know, and they're still paying
Abe Baldonado:Taxes on their retirement that they've already paid on. Yeah. Which is why
Corey Zimmerman:And then also, if you already paid off your home, right, and you're still paying property tax, you know, these people are barely making it. Yeah. And I've I've been in their homes. I've I've heard the the conversations and stuff and it's like, no, no, no, no. We need to protect these people because we are gonna be them.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. Yeah. We're gonna
Abe Baldonado:get we all the proof. Need to you know, as we talk about SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, from a conservative standpoint, we talk about it not to penalize anyone, but we need to have honest conversations because for years, and I mean, I'm I'm actually gonna go on and say decades, I because I remember this conversation happening when I was in grade school from my teachers who knew that our social security programs and our our welfare programs were unsustainable. They were vulnerable because they knew that there was gonna be this mass exit of the baby boomers that were gonna retire and eat up a lot of the that money. And there wasn't going to be enough workforce to put money back into that system for the next generation of retirees. And so as we talk about these programs, it's not coming from a space of we want to hurt people.
Abe Baldonado:No. We want to make sure that the people who need it and deserve it are getting it, but also it is there for the people who are going to need it in the future. So when you retire, that your Social Security is there. What you paid is going to be there. And right now, we have an unsustainable system right now.
Abe Baldonado:The way it is set up, the way it has been utilized, and the way it has been abused, there there is some levels of abuse that we have to say, hey. Where can we make this system better for the people who who need it? And so I think those are just honest conversations we have to have. But Corey, I just wanna thank you for stepping up because I know it's no easy task to decide to run for office. And, you know, I think the easiest decision is saying yes.
Abe Baldonado:The hardest is going to do the work. Once you start knocking the doors, once you start having the conversations and sometimes there are difficult conversations. Sometimes there's folks that maybe slam a door in your face.
Corey Zimmerman:There has been that. There has been all kinds of things. People have said, why are you out here walking around? This is when I was first doing this. Right?
Corey Zimmerman:And people said, don't you know it's unsafe for you to be doing this to go door to door getting signatures? And I was like, how is that possible? Are we as society that we're trying to build up and encourage each other and and to strengthen and hey. I wanna have conversations with everybody. Right?
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. There's some conversations that are gonna go places, others, not so much because they just wanna spew
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:Their things. But I wanna have those honest conversations. And so, look me up on my website and all that kind of stuff.
Abe Baldonado:And and can you share that?
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. It's, I made it really easy. It's w w Corey, my first name, number four, New Mexico because of like, yeah. Make it easy, make it simple, and everything is set up that way. And you invite me to your meetings, to your gatherings, events, and because I'm not really well known, just because I not I have never been into, doing this before.
Corey Zimmerman:And so I'm getting my name out there and it's it's pretty hard to break in. But yet, you know, reach out, have me come speak and and find out who I am personally. You know, this podcast, you know, it's it's Dave and I and and we're talking back and forth and I actually do that with other people too. I've learned to do this as a chaplain, sit down in people's living rooms, at the dining room, kitchen table, great conversations and so invite me and and I'll share and you tell me what is it that you want.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. What do
Corey Zimmerman:need What it your needs are? What are things that you need for District 26 and for New Mexico? And I'll work on it. If I don't have the answer, I'll ask and ask and ask until I get the answer or get people together and say, okay, how are we going to figure this out? Because we got to talk to some of the smartest people.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. And I love that. So yep. Yeah. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, at a website, and just continue to knock on doors.
Corey Zimmerman:And if you give me a chance to come and talk to you, you won't be disappointed. Yeah. You you will never be disappointed. You'd be like, is this guy for real? Yeah.
Corey Zimmerman:This is who I am.
Abe Baldonado:Corey is that guy.
Corey Zimmerman:Yeah. I am that guy. I'm the change. I'm the out outside of the thought process or whatever they wanna call it. I'll get things done because that's what I do and that's what I've done in hospice.
Corey Zimmerman:I that's what I did in the hospital. I get things done. Something happens, I will figure it out and ask and ask and ask and and things lead and move, and I love that.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Truly amazing, Corey. Well, Corey, thank you for coming on The Chile Wire.
Corey Zimmerman:Thank you for having me.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Of course. And we wish you best of luck and we look forward to calling you representative come November. And so keep up the great work. God bless you and your family as you continue on this endeavor and this journey.
Abe Baldonado:And I'm sure you'll be learning a lot over the next couple of months and there's still a lot to go. There's still a lot of runway. And so but we just wish all the best for you as you continue on this journey.
Corey Zimmerman:Thank you, Abe, for having me. I appreciate it.
Abe Baldonado:My pleasure, Corey. Well, y'all, that's it for this week's Chile Wire. We'll see you next time.