Ant Thornton is a Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of the State of New Mexico. He is ramping up his campaign ahead of the primary, where he faces another Republican contender. Thornton is a retired aerospace engineer from Sandia National Labs. When asked about his relevant experience in an interview with the Albuquerque Journal, Thornton mentions IOA:
The Lt. Governor is the president of the Senate. I served as an N.M. senate analyst for the 60-day 2021 legislative session. The Lt. Governor has the constitutional responsibility to serve as the state ombudsman. I am the only candidate who is a certified member of the International Ombudsman Association trained in alternative dispute resolution since 2016. My executive program management expertise leading multi-million dollar programs at Sandia National Laboratories and at Lockheed Martin allow me to be the “go to” person to lead and implement key initiatives tasked by the governor. In 2021, elected as 1st vice chair of Bernalillo County and led the effort to develop and deliver a six-year strategic plan for the Republican Party of Bernalillo County.
(Abq Journal.)
While it's nice to see that this candidate has concluded that referencing his ombuds and ADR experience is an asset to his campaign, he is not listed on the IOA website as COOP certified, so I'm not sure what other IOA certification process he is referring to. I also question the effectiveness of having a Lt. Governor serve as a state ombuds given the lack of independence and conflicting responsibilities with the Lt. Governor's role.
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