Ask the News - June 25

How long has Stuart Ingle of Portales been our state senator? How old is he? When does his current term expire? What does he do for a living?

Stuart Ingle was at his home in Portales on Friday when he answered those questions.

“I’m staying inside for a little while, but then I have a lunch here in a little bit. It’s hot out there,” Ingle said.

Ingle said he’s been in office for 39 years.

“I was elected in the fall of 1984, sworn in in January 1985. I was tickled to death to win,” Ingle said.

Ingle remembers campaigning.

“I knocked doors in three counties; Curry, Roosevelt and Chaves,” Ingle said

Ingle was born in Clovis in 1947.

“My folks lived in Clovis then. We lived on Wallace Street, the house is still there,” Ingle said.

Ingle’s term in office runs out in 2024. He said he plans to run again.

And the senator’s career?

“I am a dryland farmer,” Ingle said.

When it comes to the crops he raises, the weather is the decisionmaker.

“When it rains we decide. Everything depends on rain,” Ingle said.

Ingle said these days he leases his land to those who raise crops.

When it comes to his work at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe, Ingle has a main focus in his position as state senator.

“The main thing I try to do is represent the people who sent me there, the majority. I don’t care what my party says, it’s what the majority of the people want,” Ingle said.

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