List of Socorro County Republican delegates, 1906

Prior to statehood, and a couple of decades afterwards, Republicans held the majority in New Mexico. Most of delegates to the 1911 New Mexico Constitutional Convention were Republican; all of Hispanic delegates were Republican. It wouldn't be until Dennis Chavez was elected to the U.S. Senate, Franklin Roosevelt became president, and the New Deal began to affect New Mexico that the majority of voters in New Mexico switched from Republican to Democrat.

Socorro County, like many counties in New Mexico, was dominated by the Republican Party. Many Hispanics were in the leadership of the Socorro County Republican Party, including my second great-grandfather Jose Epitacio Torres. The 15 September 1906 issue of "The Socorro Chieftain listed Jose E. Torres as the county's Chairman of the Republican Central Committee.

The image below is a list a delegates to the Socorro County Convention. The delegates include the following men:

Jose E. Torres
Lorenzo M. Vigil
Jose E. Montoya
Jose D. Carrillo
Abran Baca
Serafin Lucero
Jose M. Lopez
Rafael Mendoza
Thos.(Thomas) F. Cooney
F. H. Gregg
William Gardiner
A.B. Baca
Pablo Trujillo
Chas. (Charles) Eaton
Domingo Baca
David Giron
Al Strozzi
W.E. Manning
George P. Williams
Telesfor Gabaldon
Pablo Y. Trujillo
Manuel Gabaldon
C.T. Brown
Julian Montoya
Edward Tafoya
Serobabel Chavez
Alejo (Alejandro) Gurule
C.H. Ehmendorf
Rafael Lopez
Pablo Armijo
Manuel S. Pino
Luciano Tafoya
J.K.P. May
Wm. (William) H. Antrim
Estevan Contreras
B. C. Raynolds
D.B. Sorrels
J. Peralta y Cisneros
Genovevo Padilla
Juan Silva
Donaciano Gabaldon
Jose Baca y Sedillo
Henry Martin
A.A. Sedillo

These delegates were to attend the Socorro convention, and elect 11 delegates who were attend the state convention in Las Vegas, New Mexico, on 29 September.

The results of the Socorro County Republican Convention can be read on the Chronicling America website here (click on link.) The convention favored joint statehood. Joint statehood was an idea of annexing New Mexico and Arizona into the United States as one state. Obviously, that did not happen, but statehood had eluded New Mexicans for over 50 years by this point and many believed that this was the only way that New Mexico could achieve statehood.


Sources:
"Call for Republican Convention: Socorro County, New Mexico", The Socorro chieftain. (Socorro, N.M.), 15 Sept. 1906. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86090503/1906-09-15/ed-1/seq-1/>. Accessed 8 April 2017

"Republicans Convene", The Socorro chieftain. (Socorro, N.M.), 29 Sept. 1906. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86090503/1906-09-29/ed-1/seq-1/>. Accessed 8 April 2017.

"New Mexico's Statehood: 100 Years of Enchantment", New Mexico Office of State Historian website, https://newmexicohistory.org/centennial/Statehood/Timeline.html. Accessed 8 April 2017.