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New Mexico Supreme Court elections
There are five justices on the New Mexico Supreme Court. For more information about these elections, visit the New Mexico judicial elections page.
Judicial selection
- See also: Judicial selection in New Mexico
The five justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court are chosen through partisan elections. After serving for one year, the appointed justice must win the first partisan general election after their appointment to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Justices serve eight-year terms.[1] To serve additional terms, justices must receive at least 57% of the vote in a retention election.[1]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a person must:
- be at least 35 years old;
- have practiced law for ten years before assuming office; and
- have been a New Mexico resident for three years before assuming office.[2]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by a peer vote of the justices to serve a two-year term. The chief justice must have been elected to the court, not appointed to fill a vacancy.[3]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a justice from a list of qualified candidates recommended by a judicial nominating commission. The appointed judge will serve until the first general election held one year after their appointment. The appointee must run in that general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[4]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
Elections
See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2030
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2028
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2026
Shannon Bacon's seat
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
David K. Thomson's seat
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2024
New Mexico Supreme Court
Briana H. Zamora was retained to the New Mexico Supreme Court on November 5, 2024 with 70.7% of the vote.
Retention Vote | % | Votes | |
| ✔ | Yes | 70.7 | 524,294 |
| No | 29.3 | 217,227 | |
| Total Votes | 741,521 |
 | The results have been certified. Source |
See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2022
Retention election: Michael Vigil's seat
New Mexico Supreme Court
Michael E. Vigil was retained to the New Mexico Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 69.3% of the vote.
Retention Vote | % | Votes | |
| ✔ | Yes | 69.3 | 408,573 |
| No | 30.7 | 180,965 | |
| Total Votes | 589,538 |
| The results have been certified. Source |
Regular election: Briana Zamora's seat
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Briana H. Zamora (D) defeated Kerry Morris (R) in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Briana H. Zamora (D) | 54.2 | 375,836 |
 | Kerry Morris (R) | 45.8 | 318,215 | |
| Total votes: 694,051 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Briana H. Zamora (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Briana H. Zamora | 100.0 | 114,245 |
| Total votes: 114,245 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Kerry Morris (R) advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kerry Morris | 100.0 | 91,298 |
| Total votes: 91,298 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Regular election: Julie Vargas' seat
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Julie Vargas (D) defeated Thomas Montoya (R) in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Julie Vargas (D) | 52.7 | 366,369 |
| Thomas Montoya (R) | 47.3 | 328,475 | ||
| Total votes: 694,844 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Julie Vargas (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Julie Vargas | 100.0 | 114,820 |
| Total votes: 114,820 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Thomas Montoya (R) advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Thomas Montoya | 100.0 | 90,934 | |
| Total votes: 90,934 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2020
Position 2
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent David K. Thomson (D) defeated Kerry Morris (R) in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | David K. Thomson (D) | 54.2 | 480,507 |
| | Kerry Morris (R) | 45.8 | 406,791 | |
| Total votes: 887,298 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent David K. Thomson (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David K. Thomson | 100.0 | 201,767 |
| Total votes: 201,767 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Kerry Morris (R) advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kerry Morris | 100.0 | 132,763 |
| Total votes: 132,763 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Position 1
General election
General election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Shannon Bacon (D) defeated Ned S. Fuller (R) in the general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Shannon Bacon (D) | 55.7 | 495,759 |
 | Ned S. Fuller (R) | 44.3 | 394,595 | |
| Total votes: 890,354 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Incumbent Shannon Bacon (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Shannon Bacon | 100.0 | 204,196 |
| Total votes: 204,196 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court
Ned S. Fuller (R) advanced from the Republican primary for New Mexico Supreme Court on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ned S. Fuller | 100.0 | 133,706 |
| Total votes: 133,706 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
See also: New Mexico Supreme Court elections, 2018
General election
Special general election for New Mexico Supreme Court
Michael E. Vigil (D) defeated incumbent Gary L. Clingman (R) in the special general election for New Mexico Supreme Court on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael E. Vigil (D) | 59.2 | 403,573 |
| Gary L. Clingman (R) | 40.8 | 278,502 | ||
| Total votes: 682,075 (100% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 33) Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "nmconst33" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 8)
- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 34 Article 2)
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed March 29, 2024 (Article VI Section 35)
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Mexico • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Mexico
State courts:
New Mexico Supreme Court • New Mexico Court of Appeals • New Mexico District Courts • New Mexico Magistrate Court • New Mexico Municipal Courts • New Mexico Probate Courts • New Mexico Problem-Solving Courts • New Mexico Workers' Compensation Administration Court • Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court
State resources:
Courts in New Mexico • New Mexico judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Mexico
