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New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primary)

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2022
Governor of New Mexico
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: February 3, 2026
Primary: June 2, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in New Mexico

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Likely Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic
Inside Elections: Likely Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness
State executive elections in 2026
Impact of term limits in 2026
State government trifectas
State government triplexes
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
New Mexico
executive elections
Governor

Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Secretary of State
Auditor
Commissioner of Public Lands
Treasurer
Public Education Commission (5 seats)

A Democratic Party primary takes place on June 2, 2026, in New Mexico to determine which candidate will earn the right to run as the party's nominee in the state's gubernatorial election on November 3, 2026.


New Mexico holds separate gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial primaries, but the nominees run together on a single ticket in the general election.

This page focuses on New Mexico's Democratic Party gubernatorial primary. For more in-depth information on New Mexico's Republican gubernatorial primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.


Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.

Voting information

See also: Voting in New Mexico

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
  • Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
  • State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.


See also: Presidential voting trends in New Mexico and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for New Mexico, 2026
District Incumbent PVI
New Mexico's 1st Melanie Ann Stansbury D+7
New Mexico's 2nd Gabriel Vasquez EVEN
New Mexico's 3rd Teresa Leger Fernandez D+3

2024 presidential results by 2026 congressional district lines

2024 presidential results in congressional districts, New Mexico
District Kamala Harris Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
New Mexico's 1st 55.0% 42.0%
New Mexico's 2nd 48.0% 50.0%
New Mexico's 3rd 52.0% 46.0%
Source: The Downballot

2016-2024

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:


Following the 2024 presidential election, 65.4% of New Mexicans lived in one of the state's 13 Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2016 to 2024, and 33.8% lived in one of 19 Solid Republican counties. Overall, New Mexico was Solid Democratic, having voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, Joe Biden (D) in 2020, and Kamala Harris (D) in 2024. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in New Mexico following the 2024 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Historical voting trends

New Mexico presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 17 Democratic wins
  • 12 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party N/A N/A N/A D D R R R D D D D D R R D D R R R R R R D D D R D D D D D

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from New Mexico

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in New Mexico.

U.S. Senate election results in New Mexico
Race Winner Runner up
2024 55.1%Democratic Party 44.9%Republican Party
2020 51.7%Democratic Party 45.6%Republican Party
2018 54.1%Democratic Party 30.5%Republican Party
2014 55.6%Democratic Party 44.4%Republican Party
2012 51.0%Democratic Party 45.3%Republican Party
Average 53.5 42.1

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of New Mexico

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in New Mexico.

Gubernatorial election results in New Mexico
Race Winner Runner up
2022 52.0%Democratic Party 45.6%Republican Party
2018 57.2%Democratic Party 42.8%Republican Party
2014 52.4%Democratic Party 47.4%Republican Party
2010 53.3%Republican Party 46.6%Democratic Party
2006 68.8%Democratic Party 31.2%Republican Party
Average 56.7 42.7
See also: Party control of New Mexico state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of New Mexico's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from New Mexico
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 3 5
Republican 0 0 0
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 3 5

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in New Mexico's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in New Mexico, October 2025
Office Officeholder
Governor Democratic Party Michelle Lujan Grisham
Lieutenant Governor Democratic Party Howie Morales
Secretary of State Democratic Party Maggie Toulouse Oliver
Attorney General Democratic Party Raul Torrez

State legislature

New Mexico State Senate

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 26
     Republican Party 15
     Other 0
     Vacancies 1
Total 42

New Mexico House of Representatives

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 44
     Republican Party 26
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 70

Trifecta control

New Mexico Party Control: 1992-2025
Eighteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D

The table below details demographic data in New Mexico and compares it to the broader United States as of 2023.

Demographic Data for New Mexico
New Mexico United States
Population 2,117,522 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 121,312 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 53.6% 63.4%
Black/African American 2.1% 12.4%
Asian 1.7% 5.8%
Native American 9.5% 0.9%
Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.4%
Other (single race) 12% 6.6%
Multiple 20.9% 10.7%
Hispanic/Latino 48.2% 19%
Education
High school graduation rate 87.7% 89.4%
College graduation rate 30.2% 35%
Income
Median household income $62,125 $78,538
Persons below poverty level 18.1% 12.4%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

State profile

Demographic data for New Mexico
 New MexicoU.S.
Total population:2,080,328316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):121,2983,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:73.2%73.6%
Black/African American:2.1%12.6%
Asian:1.4%5.1%
Native American:9.1%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:3.3%3%
Hispanic/Latino:47.4%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:84.2%86.7%
College graduation rate:26.3%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$44,963$53,889
Persons below poverty level:24.7%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in New Mexico.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in New Mexico

New Mexico voted for the Democratic candidate in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, three are located in New Mexico, accounting for 1.46 percent of the total pivot counties.[1]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. New Mexico had three Retained Pivot Counties, 1.66 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More New Mexico coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

New Mexico State Executive Elections News and Analysis
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New Mexico State Executive Offices
New Mexico State Legislature
New Mexico Courts
2025202420232022202120202019201820172016
New Mexico elections: 2025202420232022202120202019201820172016
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
State of the state addresses
Partisan composition of governors

External links

Footnotes

  1. The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.