LEGISLATURE
House representative from Shiprock tight-lipped on encounter with police at Chicago hotel
Democratic incumbent Joseph Hernandez sought new accommodations after 'negative experience with a hotel security guard’
New Mexico Rep. Joseph Hernandez had a run-in with security and police at a Chicago hotel last week.
It ended with the Democrat from Shiprock, who is running for reelection in November, leaving the property under circumstances he has so far not fully explained.
"During my recent stay in Chicago, I had a negative experience with a hotel security guard that resulted in a visit from Chicago Police,” Hernandez said in a statement that New Mexico House Democrats issued to the Journal on Friday. “The situation was resolved quickly as I relocated to a new hotel, where I stayed for the remainder of my trip."
Hernandez initially declined to answer questions when reached by phone Friday, while he was returning to his home in San Juan County, about 180 miles northwest of Albuquerque.
Pamela Armstrong, a spokesperson for New Mexico House Democrats, said Hernandez wasn’t available this week to explain whether he was traveling in an official capacity, if the trip was expensed to the Legislature or why the incident escalated to include police.
Legislators from across the country traveled to Chicago last week to attend an annual National Conference of State Legislatures summit, but the organization declined to release a list of attendees.
According to a travel record obtained by the Journal, Hernandez secured a government discount for a stay he booked on the 17th floor of the Holiday Inn Chicago Dwtn - the Mart by IHG, also known as Holiday Inn at Wolf Point.
Kevin Taylor, assistant front office manager at the hotel, said he wasn’t on duty at the time but confirmed in a phone call with the Journal that the hotel’s night staff, security and police responded to an incident involving a guest disturbance on July 29.
He referred the Journal to Mario Perez, guest service manager, but Perez didn’t respond to requests for additional detail.
No court documents related to the incident have been filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago’s First Municipal District. The Journal has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Chicago Police for a summary report of the incident.
A Diné tribal member who moved with his family from Pueblo, Colorado, to the Four Corners as a child, Hernandez replaced retired Rep. Anthony Allison, D-Fruitland, after defeating Republican candidate Lincoln Mark for the District 4 seat in 2024.
Since taking office, Hernandez has become a strong advocate for clean energy alternatives in the Four Corners, a region long dominated by coal and natural gas production.
Hernandez worked at the San Juan Generating Station after graduating high school, and his mother also worked there as a janitor before the plant was decommissioned in 2022.
During this year’s 30-day legislative session, Hernandez supported the New Mexico Solar Access Fund and the Immigrant Safety Act. He also advocated for increased health insurance surtax premium distributions to the Health Care Affordability Fund and the Behavioral Health Program Fund.
The one-term representative defeated his party opponent, longtime energy worker Christina Aspaas, in the June primary and in November will face Republican challenger Heather Ellison, an educator and fellow member of the Navajo Nation.
John Miller is the Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.