Why I'm Running
Meet Candidate
Service, Integrity, Leadership
Why I’m Running
I’m running for the New Mexico House of Representatives because for too long, too many New Mexicans—especially in rural and underserved communities—have struggled to access basic medical care. This isn’t a new problem, and it didn’t start with COVID or a wildfire. Those crises simply exposed how fragile our systems already were.
For more than 20 years, I’ve worked as a pediatrician in Las Vegas, New Mexico. I’ve seen families delay care because they couldn’t get an appointment, couldn’t afford to travel hours for a specialist, or couldn’t find obstetric, mental health, or pediatric services close to home. I’ve watched dedicated health care workers burn out, clinics operate on the edge of closure, and parents make impossible choices because the system wasn’t built to support them.
My commitment to service began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria, working on guinea worm eradication and clean water projects. That experience taught me that health outcomes depend on infrastructure, prevention, and policy—not just individual effort. Those lessons carried through my medical career and into my role as President of the New Mexico Medical Society, where I worked to advocate for patients, physicians, and communities across our state.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire did not create New Mexico’s health care challenges—but they made them impossible to ignore. During those crises, I saw how quickly access to care can disappear when systems are stretched thin, and how deeply emergencies affect rural families. I lived that reality myself during evacuation, relying on community and friends while public health and emergency systems struggled to keep pace.
I’m also a pilot. Flight training teaches discipline, focus, and accountability. When you are the pilot in command, the responsibility for every person on board is absolute. I believe public office carries that same responsibility: to prepare carefully, rely on evidence, and make decisions that protect the people who trust you with their lives and livelihoods.
I’m running to strengthen access to health care across New Mexico—not just in emergencies, but every day. I want to protect Medicaid and nutrition programs for children, support women’s health and obstetric care, address the health impacts of climate change and environmental toxins, and ensure rural communities are never an afterthought. I believe New Mexico deserves leaders who understand these challenges firsthand and are willing to do the hard, thoughtful work of fixing them.
I’m running because I love this state, I believe in its people, and I know that when we lead with integrity, experience, and evidence, we can build a healthier, stronger future for all New Mexicans.
Biographical Summary
Dr. Nancy Wright is a pediatrician, public health professional, pilot, and lifelong advocate for children and families. Born in San Bernardino and raised in Southern California, she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley before serving her country as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria. There, she worked on guinea worm eradication and clean water projects—an experience that shaped her lifelong commitment to prevention, infrastructure, and evidence-based public health.
Dr. Wright comes from a deeply American family history. Her mother is descended from a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and her father from Plains Indian ancestors. Her Native American great-grandfather moved to Hollywood during the early days of the film industry and was best known for portraying Sitting Bull in the 1935 film Annie Oakley. Dr. Wright’s grandmother later moved from Oklahoma to Los Angeles to join her father in the movie business. Dr. Wright is a proud enrolled member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.
After returning from the Peace Corps, Dr. Wright earned her medical degree from the University of Utah and completed her pediatric residency at the Medical College of Georgia. In 2002, she moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, to practice primary care pediatrics—a decision that permanently rooted her in the state she now calls home. She and her husband, veterinarian Dr. William Brainerd, have been married since 2004 and are raising their family on a ranch in Sapello.
Dr. Wright and her husband are also private pilots and aircraft owners who are enthusiastic about the future of aviation, including the promise of sustainable aviation fuel. Flight training demands time, discipline, and concentration, and the pilot in command bears full responsibility for everyone on board. For Dr. Wright, flying reflects the same principles that guide her medical practice and public service: preparation, accountability, sound judgment, and respect for science and safety.
For more than 20 years on the medical staff at the hospital in Las Vegas, Dr. Wright witnessed firsthand the chronic challenges facing New Mexico’s health care system—particularly in rural areas. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic or the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, families struggled with provider shortages, long travel distances for specialty care, gaps in mental health and obstetric services, and fragile public health infrastructure. During this time, Dr. Wright emerged as a respected physician leader across the state, serving as President of the New Mexico Medical Society and demonstrating her ability to lead, build consensus, and advocate effectively for patients and physicians.
Following two decades in clinical practice, Dr. Wright returned to school to earn a Master of Public Health from George Washington University. The pandemic and the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire—New Mexico’s largest wildfire—laid bare the consequences of longstanding underinvestment in health care access, emergency preparedness, and rural infrastructure. Although her property burned, her family was spared major loss, and she experienced firsthand the vulnerability and resilience of New Mexico communities during extended evacuation and recovery.
These cumulative experiences—as a physician, public health leader, pilot, rural resident, and parent—compelled Dr. Wright to step forward as a candidate for the New Mexico House of Representatives. She is running to bring a pediatrician’s, a scientist’s, and a rural New Mexican’s voice to the Legislature—one grounded in evidence, responsibility, and integrity. Dr. Wright is committed to strengthening access to health care across the state, protecting Medicaid and children’s nutrition programs, addressing the health impacts of climate change and environmental toxins, supporting women’s health care, and ensuring that decisions affecting hard-working New Mexican families are made honestly, ethically, and with New Mexicans’ needs as the top priority.
