Story shared from KVIA. Former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima is forming an exploratory committee to assess his potential candidacy for Governor of New Mexico.

Miyagishima’s exploratory committee will comprise a “diverse group of community leaders, policy experts, and passionate volunteers,” and aim to connect with New Mexicans statewide to learn more about their various needs. Miyagishima says he then plans to host a town hall meeting series, expected for the coming months.

Miyagishima is Las Cruces’ longest-serving mayor, in office from 2007 to 2023. Miyagishima says he became New Mexico’s first elected official of Mexican and Japanese ancestry when he was elected a County Commissioner in 1992. He later served as a City Councilor.

Miyagishima is also a longtime Las Cruces businessman and adjunct finance professor at NMSU.

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served as mayor, and to make a difference in our community,” said Miyagishima. “Now, I am ready to take that experience, and those lessons learned to a broader platform. This exploratory committee will allow me to engage with New Mexicans, including our elected officials, hear their concerns, and explore how I can best serve as governor.”