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Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: New Mexico State Legislature
November 1, 2012
By Ballotpedia's State legislative team
| New Mexico's State Legislative Elections in 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate seats | Contested senate seats | House seats | Contested house seats |
| 42 | 19 (45.2%) | 70 | 35 (50.0%) |
Santa Fe: New Mexico: There are 112 total legislative seats with 2012 elections in New Mexico, where polling places are open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, Mountain Time.
Both chambers are currently controlled by Democrats, but the House, with a 36-33 Democratic majority, is seen as having the potential to flip to Republicans. The Senate is 28-14 in favor of Democrats.
Of the 112 incumbents up for election in 2012, 91 (81.3%) of them are running for re-election. A total of 54 of 112 (48.2%) districts will see more than one major party candidate in the general election.
Here are a few races to watch:
Senate
- District 17: In the 2008 Democratic primary, Timothy M. Keller defeated then-incumbent Shannon Robinson in a rough campaign. In 2012, Robinson has avowed to defeated Keller, but this time, as a Republican. The two will face off in the general election on November 6.[1]
- District 29: Incumbent Michael Sanchez (D) will face state house District 7 incumbent David Chavez (R) in the general election. The race is a rematch of a 2000 state senate race, won by Sanchez.[2] Republican-backed PACs have been spending heavily to defeat Sanchez.[3]
- District 32: Money has been pouring in to help Tea Party challenger Cliff R. Pirtle defeated longtime incumbent Timothy Z. Jennings (D). Jennings is a popular moderate Democrat in a generally conservative district.[3]
House
- In District 2: Incumbent Democrat Bob Miller will face Republican incumbent Tammie Wilson.
- In District 38: Incumbent David Guttenberg (D) will face incumbent Alan S. Dick (R).*District 12: Incumbent Ernest Chavez (D) faces challenger Clyde Wheeler for the third consecutive general election.
- District 15: Firefighter Emily A. Kane (D) is fighting a tough battle against attorney Christopher T. Saucedo (R) who has strong backing from his party.[3]
- District 36: Incumbent Andrew Nunez (I) was formerly a Democrat, but jumped ship this election cycle. He will face LULAC state director Phillip M. Archuleta (D) and restaurateur Mike A. Tellez (R).[3]
| New Mexico State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 28 | 25 | |
| Republican Party | 14 | 17 | |
| Total | 42 | 42 | |
| New Mexico House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 36 | 38 | |
| Republican Party | 33 | 32 | |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 70 | 70 | |
Articles
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: New Mexico Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Central Regional State Executive Officials
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- State legislative elections, 2012
- November 6, 2012 election results
- New Mexico elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "Robinson seeks return to N.M. Senate," accessed September 6, 2012
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedprim - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Nmtelegram.com, "NM legislative races to watch," accessed October 12, 2012
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