About Marian Matthews
Marian Matthews serves as State Representative for House District 27 located in Albuquerque's Northeast Heights.
She serves on the House Rural Development, Land Grants, and Cultural Affairs and Commerce and Economic Development Committees where she worked to protect our environment and secure resources for local businesses. In her first legislative session, Marian stood up for our first-responders and introduced her 'PTSD Presumption For First Responders' bill. She also co-sponsored the 'Safer Communities Act' to strengthen public safety.
In the early 1990’s, Marian served as a Deputy Attorney General to then Attorney General Tom Udall, where she supervised several divisions of the office, including consumer protection, and was the lead attorney developing the AG’s positions on economic development legal issues. In that role, she worked with private and public sector partners to resolve possible legal barriers to programs like the Enchantment Land Certified Development Company, the first New Mexico-based provider of SBA 504 loans.
ELCDC provides expansion capital to small business in New Mexico, and has been responsible for leveraging nearly $850,000,000 in small-business capital investment in New Mexico, creating nearly 11,000 jobs.
Marian has had successful careers as an attorney, children’s advocate, criminal prosecutor, and educator working in the public, non-profit and private sectors. She has worked extensively in economic development as an attorney, educator, and as a volunteer.
After she left the AG’s office, Marian lobbied for legislation authorizing the use of a percentage of Severance Tax Permanent Fund monies to address the chronic shortage of capital available to entrepreneurs in New Mexico. Marian also served as a member of the Albuquerque Development Commission in the mid 1990’s. She was involved in housing and economic development issues as the AG’s representative on the Mortgage Finance Authority Board. As an instructor in the business department at CNM, Marian taught entrepreneurship, business law, and other business classes, some for over 10 years. After retiring from CNM, she served on the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation Board and taught a seminar for individuals interested in starting non-profit corporations.
During her legal career, Marian advocated for children with disabilities in class litigation to improve special education services and funding. She served as a Guardian ad Litem for children removed from their home. She prosecuted white collar crime and cases involving sexual predator conduct. She represented New Mexico in oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court. While still in law school, she was one of five women in the 1970s who led the successful effort to pass a state Equal Rights Amendment.
Marian with her partners built a successful private law firm, specializing in complex commercial litigation and business, real estate, and construction law. The firm constructed one of the few passive solar office buildings in Albuquerque in the 1980s.
As the Development Director for PB&J Family Services, which provides cutting-edge child-abuse prevention and treatment services, Marian worked with professional staff to develop and obtain funding for programs for children in families with an incarcerated parent, developmentally delayed parents, or parents with addictions or other behaviors which can destabilize families and put the children at risk.
She began her career as a journalist and newspaper reporter in Springfield, MO, and then in Alamogordo, NM.
Marian graduated with her BA in Political Science from Missouri State University and with her Juris Doctor degree from UNM School of Law. In her free time, Marian enjoys gardening, and served as vice chair of her Ward to engage and energize her neighbors in the political process. She is a member of the Sierra Club and the Xeric Garden Club and takes drawing and painting classes in her spare time.