Every legislative seat is up for grabs in 2024, which means all incumbents who sought reelection had to face the voters. Most did not face primary opponents, or easily defeated their primary opponents. However, several lost or faced close races. Embattled state Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, the subject of accusations of sexual misconduct from women, was […]
Every legislative seat is up for grabs in 2024, which means all incumbents who sought reelection had to face the voters. Most did not face primary opponents, or easily defeated their primary opponents. However, several lost or faced close races.
Embattled state Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, the subject of accusations of sexual misconduct from women, was among the incumbents who lost their race in Tuesday’s primary.
According to unofficial numbers, Heather Berghmans led Ivey-Soto as of 11 p.m. on Tuesday night for Senate District 15.
All races mentioned in this story are using the unofficial Secretary of State results as of 11 p.m. on election night.
A number of progressive groups had aligned to back Berghmans, a policy analyst who most recently worked as the finance director for the New Mexico House Democratic Campaign Committee, over Ivey-Soto, who had served in the state Senate since 2013. The Democratic Party previously cut ties with Ivey-Soto and the senator lost his spot as the chair of an interim committee. Even so, some of his colleagues donated to his campaign.
Berghmans will face Republican Craig Degenhardt, a senior industrial designer, in the general election.
Incumbent Bill O’Neill lost to Debbie O’Malley in the Senate District 13 Democratic primary. O’Neill first became a Senator in 2013, after previously serving two terms in the state House. O’Malley was an Albuquerque city councilor and a Bernalillo County commissioner before running for state Senate.
Incumbent Steven McCutcheon lost handily in a deep-red district Republican primary to Larry Scott, a state representative who did not run again in the state House to instead seek the Senate seat. McCutcheon was not elected to the seat, instead the rancher and businessman was appointed to the seat to replace Gay Kernan, a Republican who retired in 2023.
In the House, the most high-profile race was probably House District 70, in which Anita Gonzales defeated incumbent Ambrose Castellano in the House District 70 Democratic primary. The race received increased attention when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham endorsed Gonzales in the race. The district includes San Miguel and Torrance counties.
Castellano voted along with Republicans on some hot-button issues, including repealing an antiquated law that banned abortion and another that capped payday loans to 36 percent interest.
He had defeated Gonzales narrowly in both 2020 and 2022.
In House District 69, incumbent Harry Garcia lost in a three-way race to Michelle Abeyta, an attorney who is a member of the Navajo Nation. Stanley Michael finished in third.
Garcia served since 2016 in the seat.
In House District 53, Willie Madrid lost the Democratic primary to Dr. Jon Hill, a former educator and advocate. Madrid won the last two elections, but had lost to Republican Ricky Little in 2016.
Hill will face Elizabeth Lee Winterrowd, who narrowly lost to Madrid in 2022.
Incumbents who won
Democrat Pete Campos, the longest-serving current senator, looks to be on the path to add another few years to his tenure, which began in 1991. Campos defeated G Michael Lopez in the Senate District 8 primary. No Republican filed to run in the seat.
Senate District 26 incumbent Antonio “Moe” Maestas defeated educator Julie Radoslovich in the Democratic primary. Maestas is a former state representative who was appointed to the state senate in a controversial process to replace a retiring Jacob Candelaria. Maestas faces no opponent in the general election.
Conservative Democratic state Senator George Muñoz, who was one of the few conservative Democrats to survive challenges from progressives in 2020, easily defeated Keith Hillock in the Senate District 4 Democratic primary and will be unopposed in November.
Another conservative Democrat who has clashed with party leadership is Patty Lundstrom, who lost her spot as chair of the powerful House Appropriations and Finance Committee, easily won a three-way race in House District 9, defeated Christopher Hudson and Arval McCabe. She will be unopposed in the general election.
Incumbent Marian Matthews, who sponsored a version of the Paid Family and Medical Leave bill that differed from that put forward by more progressive Democrats, won the Democratic primary in House District 27 over Greg Seeley. She will face Gregory Gallegos in the general election.
Other incumbents easily won their reelection campaigns, while most were unopposed.
Open seats
Not every incumbent sought reelection this year. And with redistricting in the Senate shifting lines, even more senators did not seek reelection than in a normal year.
Senate
Senate District 30 had no incumbent after redistricting, but featured a former state senator looking for a return to an elected position. Clemente Sanchez lost the primary to Angel Charley, Diné, the former Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.
Sanchez lost the Democratic primary in 2020 to Pamela Cordova, a more progressive candidate. Cordova then lost in the general election to Republican Josh Sanchez, who won the Republican nomination in Senate District 29 after redistricting. He will face former Los Lunas Public Schools board member Tina Garcia, a Democrat, in the general election.
Charley faces no opponent in the general election in Senate District 30.
State Representative Candy Spence Ezzell won the Republican primary for Senate District 32. State Senator Cliff Pirtle did not seek reelection, leaving that seat open, and Ezzell defeated Chad Hamill.
Former House Minority Leader James Townsend also won his Republican primary, in House District 34, though he was unopposed. Ezzell and Townsend each will not face opponents in the general election.
Brenda McKenna did not run for reelection in Senate District 9. The district includes Sandia Pueblo, Bernalillo, Placitas and Corrales, in Sandoval and Bernalillo counties.
Cindy Nava, a DACA recipient who worked as a Senior Policy Advisor in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, won the Democratic primary against nonprofit consultant Heather Balas.
Nava will face Audrey Trujillo, a former Secretary of State candidate who believes the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Trujillo defeated Frida “Susana” Vasquez.
In Senate District 12, which includes portions of Rio Rancho and northwest Albuquerque, Sandoval County commissioner and former gubernatorial candidate Jay Block defeated former state senator Candace Thompson Gould in the Republican primary.
He will face union refrigeration journeyman Phillip Ramirez in the general election. Ramirez was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
After Mark Moores opted not to run for reelection, Senate District 21 was an open race. Three Republicans sought to replace Moores in the seat in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights.
Business consultant Nicole Tobiassen won the three-way Republican primary over Air Force veteran and DOE employee John Morton and scandal-plagued former Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Wiener.
Tobiassen will face Navy veteran and consultant Athana Ann Christodoulou, who defeated former law enforcement officer Philip Snedeker in the Democratic primary.
House
The House already had elections with newly drawn district lines in 2022, so there were fewer shake ups than in the Senate.
In House District 18, four Democrats sought to replace former House Majority Leader Gail Chasey, a Democrat who retired after serving since 1996. Marianna Anaya* won the four-way race, defeating Anjali Taneja, Gloria Sue Doherty and Juan Larranaga.
No Republican ran in the heavily Democratic Albuquerque seat that includes the University of New Mexico and Nob Hill.
After Democrat Anthony Allison did not seek reelection in House District 4, that left a three-way Democratic primary to replace him in the northwest New Mexico district. Community organizer Joseph Hernadez, Diné, won the race, defeating Christina Aspaas and Cheryl George in the primary.
Hernandez will face Republican attorney Lincoln Mark in the general election.
Democrat Natalie Figueroa did not run for reelection in House District 30 in Albuquerque’s Near Heights. Elizabeth Torres-Valesquez was the lone Democrat in the blue-leaning district, and she will face pastor Jared Secret in the primary after Secret defeated Victoria Doré in the Republican primary.
*Marianna Anaya was previously deputy director of ProgressNow New Mexico, which helps NM Political Report find funding. ProgressNow New Mexico has no editorial control over NM Political Report’s content.
