United States Senate election in New Mexico, 2020

	2022 → ← 2018
U.S. Senate, New Mexico
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: March 10, 2020
	Primary: June 2, 2020; General: November 3, 2020; Pre-election incumbent:; Tom Udall (Democrat)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in New Mexico
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic; Inside Elections: Solid Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
	U.S. Senate, New Mexico; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd; New Mexico elections, 2020; U.S. Congress elections, 2020; U.S. Senate elections, 2020; U.S. House elections, 2020; Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArizona U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

Voters in New Mexico elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 3, 2020.

Ben Ray Luján won election in the general election for U.S. Senate New Mexico.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
March 10, 2020	June 2, 2020	November 3, 2020

The election filled the Class II Senate seat held by Tom Udall (D). Udall was first elected in 2008.

This race was one of 89 congressional races that were decided by 10 percent or less in 2020.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

New Mexico modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee ballot applications were sent to all registered voters in the general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Ben Ray Luján defeated Mark Ronchetti and Bob Walsh in the general election for U.S. Senate New Mexico on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ben Ray Luján (D)	51.7	474,483
	Mark Ronchetti (R)	45.6	418,483
	Bob Walsh (L)	2.6	24,271

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 917,237
= 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.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Ben Ray Luján advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Ray Luján	100.0	225,082

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 225,082
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Mark Ronchetti defeated Elisa Martinez and Gavin Clarkson in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 2, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Mark Ronchetti	56.5	89,216
	Elisa Martinez	26.1	41,240
	Gavin Clarkson	17.4	27,471

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 157,927
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Bob Walsh advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bob Walsh	100.0	1,454

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,454
= 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.

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in New Mexico in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in New Mexico, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
New Mexico	U.S. Senate	Democratic	3,518-7,036	2%-4% of votes cast for all of the party's gubernatorial candidates in the last primary	N/A	N/A	3/10/2020	Source
New Mexico	U.S. Senate	Libertarian	230-460	2%-4% of votes cast for all of the party's gubernatorial candidates in the last primary	N/A	N/A	3/10/2020	Source
New Mexico	U.S. Senate	Republican	1,503-3,006	2%-4% of votes cast for all of the party's gubernatorial candidates in the last primary	N/A	N/A	3/10/2020	Source
New Mexico	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	20,894	3% of all votes cast for governor in the last election	N/A	N/A	6/25/2020	Source

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.^[1] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.^[2]

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Ben Ray Luján	Democratic Party	$9,295,578	$9,596,963	$79,323	As of December 31, 2020
Mark Ronchetti	Republican Party	$3,977,163	$3,966,351	$10,812	As of December 31, 2020
Bob Walsh	Libertarian Party	$8,326	$6,895	$1,431	As of December 31, 2020
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[3]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in New Mexico, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Endorsements

Democratic primary election

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in the Democratic Party primary election. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please email us.

Ben Ray Lujan
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee^[7]
- Giffords PAC^[8]

Election history