Antonio E. Sandoval,
Candidate
State Representative New Mexico House District 29

Antonio is a native New Mexican, born and raised in the 29th District. His passion and call to serve his community began at an early age. Though his parents’ involvement in PTAs, neighborhood association and church activities, he was taught the importance of giving back to the community. Antonio learned from his parents and began his service as an alter boy at St. Jude Parish and spent his childhood playing soccer for Paradise Hills Soccer Club.

Antonio went on to attend St. Pius X High School and was extremely involved with the school and the greater Albuquerque community. He was Student Body President, captain of the Boys Basketball team, a Youth Board Member for the March of Dimes, organized numerous community service activities for the school including Habitat for Humanity and Albuquerque Storehouse. He received numerous awards for his service including the West Point Leadership Award, Congressional Certificate of Merit, and many others.

As a result of his hard work, Antonio graduated in the top of his class and earned a scholarship at Colorado College. Antonio continued to play basketball for the NCAA Division III school turning around a program from dismal (1-24) record to a (15-10) record earning a National NCAA Div. III Tournament appearance by his senior year.

Antonio continued his service and community involvement by joining and leading various community and campus organizations such as the Latino student union - SOMOS, student government-CCCA, Cutler Board (Campus Newspaper Oversight Board), a First Year Experience Mentor (Teacher Assistant/Student Advisor), a Resident Advisor, and served on various other ad hoc committees and organizations. Antonio also found some time to work holding two work/study jobs to help pay his way through college. He further augmented his college experience by volunteering his time in the Colorado Springs community as a youth minister at St. Mary’s Cathedral and with the Latino Alliance, which organizes the Annual Youth Leadership Conference. He also interned with the Democratic Coordinated Campaign in El Paso County during the 2002 Elections.

During his summers while attending CC he interned in Washington DC for then Majority Leader Tom Daschle, was a New Mexico Fellow in Governor Richardson’s office, and of course worked on his basketball game. During the summers Antonio also found time to coach a youth basketball team for Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation. Antonio graduated Cum Laude in Classics from Colorado College in 2004 and was recognized as one of the ten Best and Brightest for his class.

Upon graduation Antonio took a job in Orlando, FL with 501c3 voter registration organization by the name of Mi Familia Vota where he was the Central Florida Organizer. The mission of Mi Familia Vota was to register and educate the Hispanic population on the voting process. Antonio and his colleagues managed to register over 16,000 new Hispanic voters in Central Florida and the organization as a whole registered over 75,000 new Hispanic voters in Florida for the 2004 General Election. After the elections concluded in November he left for Buenos Aires, Argentina to live with newly acquired friends and to experience the affects of globalization first hand. While in Buenos Aires he worked at a family owned market selling bread and in his spare time explored the Argentine countryside. Months later Antonio returned home to Albuquerque to share his experiences with his friends and family.

During this time of reflection Antonio looked back upon his experiences at CC and abroad and decided to join Teach For America, after being assigned to teach bilingual elementary in New York City he chose to take a part time job with a small company to make a little cash for the transition to New York. However, this part time job gave him the opportunity to write and submit a proposal to the State of New Mexico to make a compelling case to retain Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis, NM contrary to the Department of Defense’s recommendation to close the base. The company ended up winning the contract and Antonio decided to stay in New Mexico. As for Cannon AFB, the decision was made to retain and realign Cannon AFB to an Air Force Special Operations base. Antonio’s hard work helped earn him a promotion to become the Director of Business Development for the company, Keystone International, Inc. He currently is working on a number of contracts both in New Mexico with the Department of Energy and in Las Vegas, NV with the Nevada Test Site.

Since his return to Albuquerque, Antonio wasted no time in giving back to his community. He is currently the President of his homeowners’ association, volunteers for Junior Achievement, and is actively involved in the Albuquerque Public Schools Citizen Advisory Council. Antonio credits his past experiences to life lessons passed down to him by his family: “Whatever you do in life, remember to bring along those who helped you get there.”