SANTA FE, N.M. — First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies is running for reelection, and now a former district attorney is running against her.

“Like so many others, I’ve become a little frustrated with the current DA,” Marco Serna said.

Serna held the office from 2017 to 2020 and didn’t seek reelection until now. He says the state of the current office compelled him to run again.

“The management with this ‘Rust’ case, you know, I would have trusted my own prosecutors to handle that case,” Serna said. “Like any other case, the money that has been spent is, in my opinion, unreasonable. Hiring a PR firm and all of the special prosecutors is an issue for me.”

Carmack-Altwies says she had to bring in extra resources because of the state of the office when she was elected.

“I had to do what I had to do,” Carmack-Altwies said. “I don’t ever think that it’s a waste of money to pursue justice when someone was killed.”

Carmack-Altwies said she cannot comment on the current trial of “Rust” set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed but said she doesn’t believe the “Rust” case will influence the race.

“I have wanted to pursue justice for Halyna and her family, so as far as how it impacts the election, I’m not worried about that,” Carmack-Altwies said. “Because what I’m worried about is that this case is fair.”

Serna said he thinks the “Rust” case will influence the election, because of what he calls a disgruntled public. He also said he wants to reevaluate the current DWI policy.

“When she made the policy, I immediately disagreed, because I knew what was going to happen,” Serna said. “I knew that there were going to be cases that would not be refiled.”

Serna said he wants to make sure all DWI cases are refiled. However, Carmack-Altwies stands by her policy.

“We implemented a policy. It’s been controversial, but I am proud of it,” she said. “Because now we’ve got a better than 80% conviction rate, so we’ve doubled the conviction rate in three years.”

Both say there are many issues left to tackle.

“With the DA’s office, you have a voice, so, you know, there’s so many other issues that we can address – homelessness, the reentry from prison, I think I would really like to spearhead that process so that we can address the recidivism rate,” Serna said.

The New Mexico primary is June 4.