Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, New Mexico

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how New Mexico performed in the study.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

New Mexico Governor

From 1992 to 2013, there were Democratic governors in office for 11 years while there were Republican governors in office for 11 years, including the last three.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

New Mexico Senate

During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the New Mexico State Senate. The New Mexico State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

New Mexico House of Representatives

During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the New Mexico State House of Representatives. The New Mexico State House of Representatives is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of New Mexico, the New Mexico State Senate and the New Mexico House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were three partisan control changes in New Mexico during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting New Mexico slightly less than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

New Mexico’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 46.86, which puts it at 48 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that New Mexico had the highest ranking was 2008, in which it ranked 41st.
• The years that New Mexico had the lowest ranking were 1992, 1999, and 2000, in which it ranked 50th.
• The index type that New Mexico had the highest ranking in was S&P Credit Rating, in which it ranked 14th.
• The index type that New Mexico had the lowest ranking in was Poverty Rate, in which it ranked 49th.

New Mexico SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	37	41	44
America's Health Rankings	33	31	23	29	31	31	32	32	35	35	36	31	30	29	38	38	28	31	34	32	32
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	34	37	41	35	30	32	31	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	23	24	16	29	34	29	32	33
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	45	38	43	38	43	36
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	29	26	15	27	35	32	43
Govt. Employment Share Population	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	46	47
Graduation Rate	39	38	42	39	38	39	39	43	45	42	40	40	42	41	46	41	42	42	48	45	48
Personal Income Per Capita	46	46	47	46	46	47	47	48	47	47	47	47	47	46	46	46	44	43	43	43	43
Poverty Rate	47	38	49	50	50	50	50	50	50	49	48	50	45	48	47	39	50	48	45	50	N/A
Real GDP per capita	45	38	33	36	37	38	43	40	42	42	41	41	40	40	40	41	42	39	40	41	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	12	13	14
State Govt. Spending/GDP	46	43	43	45	45	44	47	47	47	47	48	47	46	47	47	48	50	49	50	49	N/A
State & local tax burden	27	26	26	22	27	31	33	32	33	20	20	23	23	19	18	18	19	11	12	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	21
Unemployment Rate	35	40	41	47	49	48	49	48	44	34	28	33	39	34	19	12	16	10	16	19	19
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	35	37	41	N/A
Voter Turnout	44	30	30	41	41	23	23	43	43	36	36	31	31	26	26	35	35	25	25	42	42
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5	31	23	24	25

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the New Mexico state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. New Mexico experienced two Democratic trifectas during the years of the study, from 1992-1994 and from 2003-2010. The state finished in the bottom-10 during every year of the study. Its worst ranking, finishing 50th, occurred from 1999-2000, during a divided government. Its best ranking, finishing 41st, occurred in 2008, during a Democratic trifecta.

Chart displaying the partisanship of the New Mexico government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of New Mexico
• New Mexico State Senate
• New Mexico House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs