Senator-Elect Harold Pope, Jr. – The Responsibility

by Ellen Coplen

Harold Pope, Jr. made history on November 3 when he was elected as the first African American to the New Mexico state senate. And his win – not surprising to him because he had an army of community support and always credits his campaign staff, volunteers, and donors for helping him defeat a three-term Republican senator – was not something he would have ever dreamed about in high school. Nor would his high school counselor.

“I remember seeing all of these kids coming out of their meetings with the counselor and they were set up take the ACT college admissions test and had some colleges to consider,” Pope said. “But when I went in, I was told, ‘We are just tying to get you to graduate from high school.’”

Pope did not excel in high school. He said he didn’t take it seriously and wasn’t motivated to learn. But with some encouragement from some of his uncles, he joined the U.S. Air Force. It was there that he found out just how capable he was to achieve great things – with a lot of investment from others who helped him tap into his talents to learn and lead.

Pope is the oldest of 5 siblings who were raised by their mother after their parents divorced when he was in 6th grade. His mom worked nights as a waitress at a bowling alley in Pueblo, Colorado, while Pope spent less time studying and more time hanging out with friends. “I grew up fast.” He admits he even got into some trouble with the law after high school and was arrested. “I could have ended up spending some time in jail,” he said. But he didn’t.

Once he got into the Air Force, he trained to be a dental assistant. His ability to learn quickly was noticed early on by his superiors who began encouraging him to take college classes at night and pursue a degree. It was at this point that he started to find some confidence in his abilities and some hope for a meaningful future.

Once Pope completed his 4 years in the Air Force, he moved to New Mexico where his father lives. He joined the Air Force Reserves, and enrolled in the ROTC program at the University of New Mexico. He earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry in 2002 and a Masters of Arts in Pharmaceutical Chemistry later in 2016. He rejoined the Air Force as an officer. During his time on active duty, he worked in project management in satellite programs at Los Angeles Air Force Base, then worked as a chemist at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. He returned to NM in 2009 and worked for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Kirtland Air Force Base working on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons deterrents for four years. In 2013 he spent a year remote in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a security cooperation officer.

“I lived in a country with a monarchy dictatorship,” Pope said. While the base he lived on was always under the threat of attack, he said he enjoyed his time there because he learned so much about the culture. He added that people in the Middle East are often misunderstood and he learned to separate the people from the rulers. “The people were very loving and gracious. My experience there helped me to have a different perspective.”

He retired as a Captain in 2018, and left holding his head high as he prided himself on calling out inequities as he saw them. “I would call out others for homophobic or racists remarks and sometimes that didn’t go over well.” When he returned to Albuquerque in 2014 he began doing some non-profit work and found ways to involve himself in the community. He met then candidate for Mayor Tim Keller and was eventually hired as an advisor with the City’s Department of Municipal Development. After 6 months, he chose not to continue in the role as he had his eyes set on running for the Senate seat in the Westside’s District 23.

Pope said he is looking forward to stepping into his role as senator and creating change in the state. He said he is very excited to be joining the seven other newly elected Democratic senators who ran on similar platforms. “With this senate, we have a huge opportunity for some transformational change. That’s what I’m looking forward to – doing some policy on some of the things we actually ran on,” he said.

The historical nature of his role is not lost on him. “I feel a responsibility as being the first African American senator. All eyes are on me and there’s a responsibility for me to do good,” he said. “My responsibility to other Black members of this state – especially the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) – is that I want people to know my story and that I didn’t come from privilege. I got arrested, I could have been caught up in the system, and that doesn’t have to be someone’s destiny.”

He added that he tells his story because “if someone just saw me as a retired Air Force veteran and college graduate, they might think that I came from a structured military family, went to college, joined the Air Force and that’s it. But that’s not my story. It wasn’t that easy.” He said if any young person is ever told that they can’t do something, he hopes they find mentors who can shape their lives in a positive way.

“I know there are young kids out there with more potential than I could ever have and we’re not motivating them and providing support,” Pope said. “People invested in me, and we need to invest in them. When I talked about why I was running, and how I won – it’s because voters and volunteers invested in me. If we invest in our community – our seniors, our Veterans, our kids, our teachers – we all win.”

Pope recalled his experience of being at the State Capitol two weeks ago. “I saw the pictures of all of the senators, and the reality is that there is nobody on those walls that looks like me, “ Pope said. “Now, when young kids go up there and see someone that looks like them, they can say ‘I can do that.’”

He added “And that’s the responsibility.”