Early ‘Christian Conservative’ NM Senator Dies at 76

Dan Boyd ^ | Wednesday, June 11, 2014

[nickcarraway]

Former Albuquerque state senator Paul Becht was a pioneer of sorts – the first self-identified “Christian conservative” to run for statewide office in New Mexico.

Though Becht finished fifth in the 1986 primary election for Republican governor candidates, he stood strong in his beliefs, saying in a later interview that the real battleground for modern society “is in each individual soul.”

Becht died June 5 after a brief illness. He was 76.

A Wisconsin native, Becht first worked in government as state purchasing agent under Republican Gov. David Cargo. He attempted to win the Republican Party’s nomination for lieutenant governor in 1970, but lost to Joe Skeen.

Becht then went on to serve 12 years in the state Senate, winning re-election twice to a district that included Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights and earning a reputation among his Roundhouse colleagues as a clean-cut lawmaker.

“He was very, very serious when he was a senator,” his wife, Barbara Becht, said Tuesday.

An attorney, lay minister and former Sandia National Laboratories employee, Becht also hosted a local Christian television program called “God Answers Prayers.”

During his 1986 gubernatorial run, television evangelist Pat Robertson came to New Mexico to help raise money for Becht’s campaign.

But Becht’s focus on Christian and conservative themes – he touted the “Judeo Christian ethic” on the campaign trail – did not translate into widespread voter support. Becht later said his campaign was “stereotyped” by detractors.

[fwdude]

These people act as if “Christian Conservatives” are a relatively new development on the political scene, when Christian Conservatives have been the bedrock of governments in this country since its founding.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.