LOCAL COLUMN
OPINION: From Route 66 to the Oil Patch: How 1926 shaped New Mexico
2026 marks the centennial celebration of several major events related to energy and transportation.
Across America, 2026 marks the 100th year of the establishment of the 鈥淢other Road,鈥� Route 66.
In the Permian Basin of West Texas, 2026 marks the 100th year of the discovery of what would become one of the largest oil fields in Texas 鈥� indeed, in America. This field is the Yates field, located near Fort Stockton.
In New Mexico, 2026 marks 100 years since one of the most consequential gubernatorial elections in the state鈥檚 history.
Richard Charles Dillon became the eighth man to win the governor鈥檚 race. When voters went to the polls in November 1926, they handed Dillon a narrow victory over an incumbent governor, Arthur Hannett. Contrary to the modern-day political trends in New Mexico, Dillon would win many of the areas along Interstate 25, including Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Hannett would win what are today the oil-rich areas of southeastern New Mexico, including the cities of Hobbs, Roswell, Carslbad and Clovis.
Candidate Dillon had a simple plan to implement if he were to be elected. 鈥淚 am just a plain business man, not a politician,鈥� he stated on the campaign trail. 鈥淚f elected, I will give you a business administration.鈥� Those words were quoted in the Journal on Sept. 24, 1926.
That type of philosophy 鈥� running the government like a business 鈥� is something that has been championed by politicians in the decades since 1926. From Ross Perot to Donald Trump, from Steve Forbes to Vivek Ramaswamy, the businessman-as-politician archetype has been one admired and scorned by many voters. While a businessman can bring fresh ideas and an outsider鈥檚 perspective, a businessman can also be seen as out of touch with the working poor.
But Dillon鈥檚 administration attempted to relieve New Mexicans of the burden of state and federal regulations. He would have support from the state Legislature, who would pass a series of laws that included the abolition of a state road tax and a reduction in the cost of getting a driver鈥檚 license.
Dillon鈥檚 legacy, however, lay in his support for the relaxation of restrictions set out in the Enabling Act of 1910. This act, which predated statehood, would give the state of New Mexico full control of lands that were not otherwise controlled by the federal government. The state government would have the final say on all proposed leases to oil producers. But the eighth New Mexico legislative session would allow the voters to determine whether or not oil companies could negotiate leases on state lands.
This was all that petroleum producers needed to expand drilling and production in New Mexico. While statewide oil production generally hovered around 1 million barrels a year when Dillon took office, that output would skyrocket. Midwest Refining Company, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, would start its No. 1 in Lea County in 1927. Over the next year, the well would bring 600 to 800 barrels of oil per day. Midwest State No. 1 would be a game changer for petroleum production in New Mexico. Within a decade, statewide oil production would approach the 40-million-barrel mark. In the year that Dillon died 鈥� 1966 鈥� statewide oil production exceeded 120 million barrels for the first time.
Term limits would prevent Dillon from running from a third term in 1930. But Dillon, who was the first governor to serve two terms, proved that, done right, elections can bring about changes that get the government off of the backs of businesses.
And that lesson still applies 100 years later as another gubernatorial election approaches.
Matthew Day is an independent scholar/historian from Lubbock, Texas. He is the author of 30 books, including 鈥淟ubbock, Levelland, Baghdad, Washington; The Oil Empire That Wasn't Book I,鈥� and 鈥淭he Oil Empire That Wasn't Book II.鈥� He also writes a column for the Seminole (Texas) Sentinel. His website is .
