State Senator Crystal Brantley, representing District 35, was elected in 2020 and now serves as Caucus Chair of the New Mexico Senate Republican Caucus — elected by a unanimous vote of her Senate GOP colleagues — in addition to her roles as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Senate Rules Committee. A lifelong New Mexican, Senator Brantley grew up immersed in the state's rural communities. She is a graduate of New Mexico State University and previously served as the director of the Sierra Soil & Water Conservation District.

In the legislature, she has championed initiatives bridging the rural-urban divide, including the creation of a Rural Ombudsman position. She has been recognized as Legislator of the Year by the New Mexico District Attorneys and the New Mexico Home & Hospice Association for her work supporting law enforcement and small businesses. This year she received the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce Focus Award and the Greater Albuquerque Medical Association Excellence Award for her leadership on medical malpractice reform, as well as the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce's "People Over Politics" Award for her bipartisan work on public safety, medical malpractice reform, and restricting cell phones in classrooms. She was also named by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking as the most effective Republican senator in the New Mexico Legislature. Senator Brantley is active in state agricultural organizations, including the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association and the New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau. She resides in Elephant Butte with her husband Tom and their five daughters.