D’Antonio Enters Race for State Rep District 57
Former New Mexico State Engineer and Secretary of the Environment Department, John D’Antonio, Jr., has entered the race for the New Mexico House District 57 seat being vacated by Jason Harper. D’Antonio is considered one of the foremost water experts in New Mexico and the Western United States.
“When I found out Harper had decided not to run again, I knew it was something I needed to do for the state, my district, and my community. I have extensive experience with the New Mexico legislative process. I have presented to numerous State House and Senate committees regarding agency budgets, special appropriations, and proposed legislation. I have testified before the U.S. Congress. I have good working relationships with agency and department heads and staff. There will be no on-the-job training for me, I will be able to hit the ground running and will be effective on day one. It was never part of my long-range career plan, but there are some things you just can’t foresee.”
Having been appointed as State Engineer by three governors, D’Antonio has decades of experience in water resources engineering, regulation, and management, including implementation of sound water policy using technical engineering judgment in combination with extensive water rights knowledge and expertise. As State Engineer, D’Antonio oversaw an annual $50M operating budget and $100M capital outlay budget. He has vast experience in building coalitions with state and local governments, federal agencies, private sector organizations and individuals, and sovereign tribal nations solving complex water right issues through the settlement process.
Personal Background
D’Antonio is a native New Mexican, born and raised in Albuquerque. His Italian-American father came to Albuquerque by way of the U.S. Air Force, when he was stationed at KAFB during the Korean War. “My Dad met my mom at the NCO Club on KAFB. My mom came to Albuquerque after high school from Vaughn, New Mexico, to go to school and work, so she could send money back home. My mom’s mom came from a large Hispanic family with long, deep roots in New Mexico. My maternal grandfather immigrated from Spain and settled in Eastern New Mexico around the Santa Rosa and Vaughn area. A lot of Spanish sheepherders settled there. And they were socially and politically conservative. There is a very old campaign commercial for Sen. Pete Domenici that my grandfather was in, where he holds his fist in the air and shouts ‘Peoples for Pete.’ My family still gets a kick out of watching it.
“I grew up in a very loving and supportive middle class family with three brothers and two sisters in a three-bedroom house across from Grisham Park. I shared a bedroom with my twin brother and younger brother all the way through college. We were really like triplets, and it is a good thing we mostly got along and enjoyed the same things. We had to share everything, including a car in college. ”
D’Antonio attended elementary school at Queen of Heaven, junior high school at McKinley, and graduated from Del Norte High School in Albuquerque. He then went on attend the University of New Mexico, where he graduated with a degree in civil engineering. While attending UNM, he stocked grocery shelves at Furrs at night. After graduating from UNM, he began his engineering career at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where, when he wasn’t working for state government, he held senior civilian jobs overseeing hundreds of personnel, multi-million dollar budgets, and the planning and construction of large infrastructure projects.
Throughout most of his years as a young husband and father, D’Antonio often had to work two jobs. He and his wife Cassandra of 36 years raised their four kids in Albuquerque. “My wife and I often worried about how we would pay all of our bills and be able to provide for our family. Though we both had college degrees and professional jobs, we still often lived paycheck to paycheck. It was expensive then, and it seems a lot more expensive now. I don’t know how our three daughters can afford to raise our eight grandchildren in today’s economy.
“Despite working and raising kids, Cassandra and I still found the time to volunteer and give back to our community. Besides coaching and umpiring little league baseball and softball games, PTA, boy and girl scouts, teaching Sunday school, we also volunteered hours of our time sitting on numerous boards and committees. Public service is in our blood.”
After retiring from the State of New Mexico two years ago, D’Antonio and his wife started American West Water Advisors, a small business helping clients on their water and infrastructure needs, policy and implementation.
D'Antonio Supports
“Our young families need the support of their extended family, communities, and churches now more than ever. I believe the government, the private sector, and our educational institutions have a responsibility to work together as partners to create a thriving economy, which attracts businesses, which provide good paying jobs, both of which provide tax revenues so that government can provide the services they are responsible for providing to their citizens. We are all in it together.
“I am a supporter of public schools, but also a proponent of charter schools that can accommodate the special needs and interests of a diverse range of students. I also support STEM programs, trade schools and community colleges. Not everyone needs a college degree to succeed today, and the economy doesn’t need everyone to be degreed.
"I’m sure a lot of people will think all I know is water and infrastructure. Yes, those are the fields I have decades of experience in and those are important to our quality of life. But so are good schools, public safety, educational opportunities for all, access to health care, mental health, veterans support, access to natural open spaces and recreational areas. I also hold some deep seated conservative beliefs, beliefs in First and Second Amendment rights, a secure border, national security, fiscal constraint and responsibility, school choice, both private property rights and conservation of the land and natural resources. We support the police and our military, both those who are serving and the veterans. But I have a lot of Democrat friends who believe in some of the same things I do, so there is common ground.
D’Antonio’s Approach to Legislating & Politics
“When I first became State Engineer in 2003, I worked a lot with U.S. Senators Domenici and Bingaman. One Republican and one Democrat. They worked well together for the good of the people of our state, they made a great team. Unfortunately, now it seems, especially in Congress, both sides of the aisle have become parties of rage and animosity. I’m not going to Santa Fe to pontificate, I’m going to get things done.
“I’m a realist. And as an engineer, I think logically and rationally, seldom emotionally. The Democrats control the legislature and the Fourth Floor. As a Republican, how are you going to get your bills heard and through committees chaired by Democrats and onto the floor for a vote without some collaboration and a good working relationship with the other caucus? You’re not. As a cabinet secretary, I was responsive to both Democrat and Republican members of the legislature and citizens of the state. It was my job. It was my duty. And in return I believed I gained their respect.
"Agua es Vida, water is life, has been a defining mantra for me. Water should not be politicized. Everyone, regardless of their background, deserves a sustainable and safe water supply, just like they deserve the dignity of opportunity—a safe community, a good education, reliable infrastructure, and a thriving economy. And without water, without these basics, there is no quality of life. And that is the approach I will be taking to Santa Fe.”
PROVEN. EXPERIENCED. LEADERSHIP.
John D’Antonio is a registered professional engineer in New Mexico with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico and was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering from UNM in 2021.
He spent 16 years with the NM Office of the State Engineer and was appointed by 4 different Governors over the past 2 decades. He also served for 22 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) working on significant national and regional water issues, as well as supporting Military Construction, International and Interagency Support projects as well as ecosystem, flood protection and other Civil Works projects.
Mr. D’Antonio has a passion for water resources and a keen interest in helping to solve water resource challenges. He leverages his broad local, state, and federal government experience, and decades of trust and relationship building in New Mexico, and many of the states in the western U.S. He has broad experience in Water Rights Administration, Water Policy, Water and Drought Planning, Water Infrastructure and Funding, and additional engineering and policy expertise.
His vast experience in building coalitions with state and local governments, federal agencies, private sector organizations and individuals, and sovereign nations led to negotiating three complex Tribal water rights settlements. The settlements resulted in certainty of water rights for Indians and non-Indians and nearly $2 billion of water infrastructure projects. During his tenure as State Engineer, D’Antonio was Secretary of the Interstate Stream Commission, Chairman of the Water Trust Board; Governor’s Water Infrastructure Investment Team; and the Governor’s Drought Task Force. He also served as the New Mexico Commissioner to the Rio Grande, Costilla, and Upper Colorado River Compacts.
With the USACE, D’Antonio served as the Programs Director for the Corps’ South Pacific Division in San Francisco in 2016, driving program delivery in Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Construction, and Civil Works, valued at nearly $3 billion – as well as serving as the Executive Engineer for three MEGA (large scale) projects. He also furthered opportunities for the Corps’ involvement in Public, Private Partnerships involving existing and future projects. In 2017 D’Antonio, served as the Regional Business Director for the South Atlantic Division in Atlanta, Georgia.
Prior to being reappointed to the New Mexico State Engineer position in March 2019, D’Antonio also served as the Liaison to 12 federal agencies on the Western Federal Agency Support Team (WestFAST), which works in conjunction with the Western States Water Council (WSWC) in support of the Western Governors Association (WGA) on complex water-related issues.
D’Antonio is most proud of his Agency’s (OSE) recognition award in 2010 from Quality New Mexico which used Baldridge criteria to evaluate performance excellence for implementing quality improvement processes. He was also recognized in 2015 with the "Spirit of Bipartisanship Award" by New Mexico First for exceptional leadership contributions to New Mexico government and community.
For the last several years D’Antonio has been very active in supporting community events and STEM activities in his roles as University of New Mexico (UNM) Civil Engineering Advisory Board; External Advisory Committee for National Science Foundation CREST Center for Water and the Environment; Implementation Chair for the New Mexico First town hall on Water Planning, Development and Use; Board of Directors for Leadership New Mexico; Board of Directors for New Mexico First.
Since his retirement from the State Engineer position in December 2021, D’Antonio and his wife started a small business, American West Water Advisors, which has provided services in support to the State of New Mexico in the matter Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, Docket No. 141- Original Action in the US Supreme Court and water rights consulting services for a major transmission and wind generation project, several municipalities, oil & gas producers, agricultural users and others. He is also currently the National Water Resources Account Lead for Wilson & Company and serves on the Board of Directors of the Society of American Military Engineers and is President of the New Mexico Desalination Association.