Republican governor candidate Steve Pearce plans on improving New Mexico’s education system and support apprenticeship education to make the state more business friendly if elected as governor next month.

Pearce, who currently serves in the House of Representatives for New Mexico’s 2^nd district, said he wants to improve higher education by recuperating primary education.

“Generally, K [kindergarten] through 12 is very unprepared in New Mexico to build to higher education,” Pearce said. “We need to fix K through 12 so that people can go straight into college and be prepared.”

New Mexico is ranked last out of all 50 states in education, according to an article from U.S. News.

Pearce said he is a strong supporter of apprenticeships and vocational education.

“The kids who are not going to college need to have a pathway, too,” Pearce said. “We wonder why New Mexico’s economy suffers; we wonder why the poverty is so deep. That’s because we don’t give people who are not going to college a skill-set.”

Pearce’s full education policies can be viewed here.

Pearce said the state is currently hostile toward new businesses

“Right now we get about $7 billion that comes into New Mexico to the national labs. That money typically is given out in grants and research, but it goes to other states to provide jobs in other states because we [New Mexico] just don’t focus on that,” Pearce said. “So, we [New Mexico] need to be developing the sort of jobs that will cause those jobs to be created here and not in other states.”

Pearce also said there are five private aerospace companies that will be coming to New Mexico.

“We [New Mexico] have fumbled through that for the past 12 years or so, and I will not fumble that ball,” Pearce said.

Pearce’s full economic plan can be viewed here.

The millennial vote has been a big issue this election with people all over the New Mexico State University campus attempting to get students to vote.

Pearce said that it is very important for young people to vote.

“So the millennial generation, I tell you, you really have the potential to sure a lot of the problems you’re inheriting, but you’re going to have to get involved in politics to do it,” Pearce said.

General election day will be November 6, 2018, and the elected governor’s term will start January 1, 2019, and end January 1, 2023.