ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Voters across New Mexico headed to the polls Tuesday to select their party’s candidates for governor while the state faces ongoing struggles with violent crime rates, struggling educational systems, and reductions in federal assistance programs that serve as crucial support for many residents.
Even with these ongoing issues, the primary election occurs during a period of financial opportunity for whoever wins the governor’s office, most likely a Democratic candidate. Global oil prices have risen due to the Iran conflict, bringing significant tax revenue into state accounts. As the country’s second-largest oil producer after Texas, New Mexico uses industry profits to support various progressive social initiatives, including universal childcare programs.
This marks the first primary election where independent voters can participate. The state’s semi-open primary format, enacted by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last year, permits approximately 23% of New Mexico voters who lack party affiliation to choose either a Democratic or Republican ballot.
Although voters will determine nominees for three congressional positions, one U.S. Senate seat, and numerous statewide positions, the gubernatorial contest draws the most attention.
Former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who previously served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Albuquerque-based district attorney Sam Bregman are competing for the Democratic nomination to succeed Lujan Grisham, who has reached her term limit.
Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo, has the potential to become the nation’s first Native American woman elected as governor. Her campaign centers on lowering family expenses, highlighting her deep state connections, and promoting her Washington, D.C. experience.
She maintains a substantial fundraising advantage over Bregman in what has become an increasingly hostile campaign. Haaland’s team has spotlighted Bregman’s personal wealth, portraying him as disconnected from ordinary New Mexico families. Haaland avoided multiple debate invitations from Bregman, who contends his prosecutorial background makes him the strongest Democratic choice to address the state’s persistent high crime problems.
His campaign also attacked Haaland following her appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein documents. She traveled on a private aircraft arranged by one of Epstein’s businesses during her failed 2014 lieutenant governor campaign. Gary King, her running mate then, paid for that flight to a Washington, D.C. fundraising event. King’s family had previously sold Epstein a New Mexico ranch twenty years before.
Haaland stated she had no knowledge of Epstein’s involvement in the flight arrangements and never encountered him.
Bregman, who prosecutes cases for Bernalillo County and is the father of Chicago Cubs All-Star Alex Bregman, has pledged to oppose the Trump administration on matters including healthcare and immigration.
Three contenders are seeking the Republican nomination, with the victor facing difficult odds in a state that has shifted increasingly leftward recently. Democrats have captured every statewide office since 2017, and Republican presidential candidates haven’t won the state in decades.
Gregg Hull previously served as mayor of rapidly expanding Rio Rancho and cites his leadership experience there as a model for his potential governance, vowing to bring major employers to the state. Duke Rodriguez, a former state Cabinet secretary under former Republican Gov. Gary Johnson who now leads a cannabis company, has concentrated on stabilizing the state’s troubled healthcare system, which confronts financial difficulties and a critical physician shortage. Public relations professional Doug Turner has emphasized plans to improve the state’s public education system from its position at the bottom of national rankings.
While Hull and Turner have kept their campaigns separate from the MAGA movement, Rodriguez recently received a cease-and-desist notice from attorneys representing President Donald Trump for “deceptive use” of Trump’s image in campaign materials.
November’s general election winner will receive the oil revenue windfall in the state budget, which has generated competing proposals for its use — ranging from direct taxpayer payments to funding tax credits primarily benefiting low-income residents to completely eliminating the state’s income tax.
The state’s dependence on fossil fuel revenues to support its programs has also created political challenges for Democrats.
