Rod Adair is a former state senator, who represented Senate District 33 (Chaves & Eddy Counties, 1996-2002 and Chaves & Lincoln Counties, 2002-2012).  During his 16 years in the senate, he represented Roswell, Artesia, Loco Hills, Mesa, Ruidoso, Corona, Carrizozo, Capitan, Lincoln, Fort Stanton, Nogal, Ancho, Angus, Bonito, Alto, and Ruidoso Downs. Rod received numerous awards from the Association of Commerce and Industry, property rights organizations, civil rights groups, schools, anti-smoking organizations and local civic organizations.  He was the first Republican to serve as keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Day annual celebration in Roswell.

In the legislature, Adair sponsored, and guided through to adoption, five major pieces of legislation on behalf of victims of domestic violence, including the bill that made a third conviction of Battery against a Household Member a felony. He also sponsored the legislation that increased sentencing/supervisory authority for magistrate and metro judges in domestic violence cases, from 364 days to 2 years. This allowed judges to impose 52 weeks of mandatory probation and intervention for first-time offenders. His last bill eliminated a “community property” loophole that had been allowing offenders to intimidate spouses or companions by destroying their property.

He received the Spirit of Advocacy Award from the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Adair was a strong proponent of open government, sponsoring legislation in 1999, 2001 and 2003 to open conference committees, as well as supporting webcasting for all legislative proceedings.  In 2007 he successfully sponsored a measure that ensures that senate roll call votes will be immediately posted on the legislative website.  The same measure was passed in the House in 2009.

In 2005, he was the only legislator among the eight from Chaves County, and only one of four Republicans in the senate to support the “Clean Indoor Air Act” outlawing smoking indoors and in restaurants.  The measure was adopted in 2007, with the entire Chaves County delegation in support.  He supported medical marijuana legislation for eight consecutive sessions until it passed the legislature, and was a strong supporter of legislation that prevented law enforcement officials from seizing and disposing of private property without obtaining a conviction.  Together with Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Rod four times sponsored legislation to eliminate partisan political redistricting and create a bi-partisan redistricting commission.

Rod Adair was, and is, an opponent of the excesses and abusive behavior carried out by the American Civil Liberties Union. And he defeated the ACLU-NM in a lawsuit in 2007, after which a New Mexico state official stated "Adair is the only person to defeat the ACLU in their numerous lawsuits over the past 25 years." The ACLU admitted in an official statement: "Rod Adair is a strong supporter of the First Amendment." He is the only elected official in New Mexico about whom the ACLU has issued such a statement.

Affiliations

For four years, Adair served on the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center board, and for ten years as a board member of the Roswell Symphony Orchestra.  He also served on the Blackdom Memorial Foundation. Adair is also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Population Association of America, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, the Lincoln Forum, the Abraham Lincoln Association, The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, The Federalist Society, the National Rifle Association, Rotary International and American Mensa, Ltd.  He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2000, in Philadelphia, and a member of the Electoral College in 2004, serving as presiding officer for New Mexico.

Born in a log cabin in Hagerman*, Rod holds a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and a Master’s Degree in Government, and is a graduate of the Defense Language Institute (Spanish) as well as the Command and General Staff College.  In 1975, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry, and after attending Airborne training, served in a number of units including the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea and the 7th Infantry Division, ultimately completing 20 years in the Regular Army, before retiring in 1996. He spent much of the last ten years of his career as a Foreign Area Officer for Latin America, serving in 16 Latin American countries before his last assignment as an assistant professor of military science at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.

*stylized account