House votes to name courthouse after Gov. Mechem

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to name the federal courthouse in Las Cruces after former Gov. Edwin Mechem.

The bill, introduced by Republican New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce, would rename the courthouse on North Church Street the Edwin L. Mechem United States Courthouse.

Pearce says he hopes the Senate will pass the bill quickly, "to ensure Mechem receives the recognition he has long deserved."

Pearce notes that this year is the state's Centennial, and that Mechem would also have turned 100 this month.

Governor Mechem was a four-term governor of New Mexico in the 1950s and the first born in New Mexico post-statehood. He also served in the New Mexico legislature, as a U.S. senator and as a federal judge from 1970 until his death in 2002.