2026 Primary Election - June 2, 2026

Gregg Hull clinched the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday, setting up a primary election showdown with Democrat Deb Haaland.

The former Rio Rancho mayor bested GOP rivals Doug Turner and Duke Rodriguez to advance to the November general election, getting about 47% of the votes cast in the three-way race, according to unofficial results.

While Hull will likely enter the general election cycle as an underdog against Haaland, he predicted a victory to his supporters gathered in Albuquerque for an Election Night party.

“This fall, we will face Deb Haaland in the general election, and we’re going to win,” Hull said.

Deb Haaland’s bid to make history is hurtling toward November, while Republican Gregg Hull is hoping to break a decade-long dry spell in statewide races.

Haaland, who would become the first Native American woman elected governor if she wins in November, easily rebuffed a primary challenge from Sam Bregman to win the Democratic Party nomination in New Mexico’s open race.

The race’s outcome was called only 30 minutes after polls closed Tuesday, with Haaland receiving more than 70% of the votes cast around New Mexico. She will run on an all-female ticket in this fall’s general election with Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who won the Democratic Party’s nomination for lieutenant governor.

Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas had a solid lead over Byron Powdrell in the Democratic primary while former County Clerk Linda Stover was a sniff ahead of Damian Lara for county assessor, according to unofficial election results late Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Thomas Riley appeared on track to win the Republican primary for District 5 against Wayne Yevoli with 70% of the vote.

As of 9:30 p.m., Olivas had the lead over Powdrell with 56% of the vote, according to unofficial election results. The assessor race remained close, with Stover taking 52% of the vote.

If victorious, Olivas will face Riley in November. With no challenger in sight, the winner between Stover and Lara will become the next county assessor.

Incumbent Rep. Marian Matthews is being challenged by Abby Foster in the primary. Matthews is a moderate Democrat and Foster has criticized Matthews’ recent votes against paid family medical leave bills and for supporting bipartisan bills in the Legislature.

Matthews in a recent Journal op-ed wrote she was being targeted for her support of House Bill 99 — which made changes to medical malpractice laws in the state. She said that trial attorneys who were against those reforms supported Foster in her campaign.

Early results showed the Foster was up by 43 votes with nearly 3,000 votes counted at 9 p.m.

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver appeared on track to become the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Tuesday’s primary election as a few down-ballot races remained uncertain as early results rolled in.

Toulouse Oliver, whose second term as secretary of state expires this year, held a commanding lead over her sole challenger in the primary, state Sen. Harold Pope Jr., who has represented District 23 since 2021.

“Tonight, New Mexicans voted to nominate a fighter,” Toulouse Oliver said in a statement. “I will tirelessly work to lower costs, protect people’s sacred rights, and defend our state from Trump’s attacks.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner doesn’t appear to be making an appearance at Republican Party of New Mexico headquarters tonight, as he trails candidate Gregg Hull.

RPNM leaders concluded their election night rally around 9:10 p.m., praising the victories of Republicans like Larry Marker, a write-in candidate who received 4,599 votes to challenge incumbent Ben Ray Luján for a United States Senator seat in November.

“Thank you Jesus Christ for tonight, for the victories. Still a few races undecided, so we’re excited about all that,” Marker said. “I think the sky’s the limit. With this crew, we will be turning New Mexico red in November.”

Incumbent John Allen is poised for a second consecutive term as Bernalillo County sheriff, declaring victory Tuesday over former Quay County Sheriff Philip Snedeker, whom Allen also defeated in a previous race.

Allen, 51, led Snedeker by more than 45 percentage points, according to unofficial election results as of 9 p.m. Tuesday. He does not face a Republican challenger in November’s general election.

“Thank you to the voters for choosing me again,” Allen told the Journal. “We’re going to continue to fight crime. BCSO is proactive, and we’ll be even more proactive as we move forward in my second term.”

A power outage closed a Rio Rancho polling location on Tuesday evening.

Voters hoping to cast ballots at Puesta Del Sol Elementary School were told to vote instead at the Southern Sandoval County Arroyo and Flood Control Authority, or SSCAFCA, on Commercial Drive or at the Joe Harris Elementary School on 10th St. SE.

Sandoval County Clerk  Anne Brady-Romero’s office posted a notice about the closure on Facebook at around 6 p.m.

Eric Chavez, spokesman for PNM, in an email said the outage in Rio Rancho occurred around 5:30 p.m., affecting 4,472 customers in the area.

Chavez said a powerline went down because of the weather.

Crews since then restored power to 4,030 customers, Chavez said. The polling station reopened at 6:50 p.m., according to Chavez.

Crews as of 9:00 p.m. were still making repairs, and Chavez estimated that power would be restored for all customers by 10:00 p.m.

Brady-Romero’s office has not responded to a request for comment.

As the night progressed, Romie Sandoval, APEX campaign consultant, stepped aside to give notes on the campaign and the evening. He said he joined the campaign because, to him, Duke Rodriguez was the Republican candidate who could win in the November election.

While the election road has been filled with obstacles thrown at them by other candidates, Sandoval said they were okay with them. He said that anticipation has been building over the last three weeks, and he is shocked by how the numbers are turning. However, no matter the final numbers, they will show their support.

“(We will) support the Republican nominee to keep Deb Haaland from being governor,” he said. “We have a tough task ahead of us.”

Tuesday’s primary elections evoked no suspense when it came to shaping New Mexico’s four federal contests on Nov. 3.

New Mexico’s three Congress members and junior senator, all Democrats, are seeking re-election. Besides Sen. Ben Ray Luján, none faced primary challengers.

For New Mexico’s three seats in the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans all narrowed to a single candidate apiece, sparing them expensive primary battles and allowing them to focus on the general election ahead.

Deb Haaland’s bid to make history is surging ahead to November.

The former U.S. interior secretary has won the Democratic nomination in New Mexico’s open race for governor, rebuffing a primary election challenge from Sam Bregman.

With more than 90,000 votes counted in the race, Haaland held a commanding lead over Bregman — 73% to 27%.

Longtime New Mexico political observer Brian Sanderoff and the Associated Press projected Haaland as the winner around 7:34 p.m. — just over half an hour after polls closed.

“I understand the struggles New Mexicans are facing and I will fight every day for lower costs, a quality public education, safer communities, and increased access to healthcare,” Haaland said before polls closed Tuesday.

Maggie Toulouse Oliver has won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in New Mexico.

Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver was challenged by state Sen. Harold Pope Jr.

Early returns showed a tight race in the Democratic primary for the Northeast Heights District 27 House race.

Incumbent Rep. Marian Matthews is being challenged by Abby Foster in the primary. Matthews is a moderate Democrat and Foster has criticized Matthews’ recent votes against paid family medical leave bills and for supporting bipartisan bills in the Legislature.

Early results showed the Matthews was up by 23 votes with nearly 3,000 votes counted.

Supporters of Deb Haaland aren’t the only people filling the Old Town Plaza.

This year, local influencers are also joining the media in election coverage.

Briana Flores, 26, is a local content creator who was invited to share coverage of Haaland’s election party.

She said that she had been following Haaland’s politics for sometime now and even attempted to become an intern for her in 2020 before the pandemic.

“One thing that really stands out is not only how much she cares about New Mexico, but the things she wants to do for young people,” Flores said.

“I feel like being a young adult in New Mexico is a little challenging and seeing somebody who recognizes the challenge… whether it’s buying houses or trying to start their lives is something that’s really important to me,” she said.

Flores said that although she focuses on lifestyle content creation, she believes politics are woven into all factors of life.

“At the end of the day, all those things tie into politics,” Flores said.

She said that Haaland’s message resonated with a younger audience who is struggling to find their footing during economic uncertainty.

“What sticks out is that she’s somebody that you can tell wants to help build up New Mexico and do things for the future to come instead of just focusing on the now.”

She added that she felt it was important as a young New Mexico to share her voice and inform her audience of a cumulative 10,000 followers across all her social media platforms about politics happening in their state.

Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has won the Democratic nomination for New Mexico governor, giving her a path to become the first Native American woman in the U.S. elected to the office.

Haaland, a citizen of Laguna Pueblo, beat Sam Bregman, an Albuquerque-based district attorney who campaigned on a promise to curb violent crime. On the campaign trail, Haaland focused on reducing costs for families while emphasizing her ancestral roots in the state and experience in the nation’s capital.

As Interior secretary under President Joe Biden, Haaland championed public lands conservation and oversaw a first-of-its-kind federal investigation into the abuse of Native American children at government-run boarding schools. In 2018, she made history as one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress.

The winner of the November general election will succeed Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who reached her term limit. Democrats have won every statewide elected position in New Mexico since 2017.

Ben Ray Luján will retain his seat in the U.S. Senate.

The Associated Press called the race for Luján, who was facing a challenge in the Democratic primary from Matt Dodson.

The New Mexico Secretary of State’s website, where many can track election results, has been down, or spotty, since polls closed at 7 p.m. As of 7:30 p.m., the SOS website stated: “The Secretary of State’s Office Unofficial Election Results system is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience as we work to get this issue resolved.”

The Journal’s Live Election page at live.abqjournal.com is pulling in some results from the Secretary of State’s website via an RSS feed.

Rodriguez’s team surrounds laptops as Fox News plays on the television in the background, tracking election results. As they watch the results roll in, they track on multiple screens and snack on Dion’s.

Incumbent Democratic Rep. Raymundo Lara jumped to an early lead in the race for District 34 in the New Mexico House of Representatives, a southern-New Mexico seat.

Lara had earned 75% of the little more than 600 votes that have been counted. He is being challenged by Juan Fuentes.

Also in southern New Mexico, Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena, D-Las Cruces, had received 75% of the nearly 1,500 votes counted so far. Cadena is being challenged by Ramona Martinez, who has tried to position her as a more pragmatic candidate.

Smash Mouth’s “Walkin’ On The Sun” played at the Republican Party of New Mexico’ headquarters as polls closed this evening.

A very light crowd of attendees are enjoying a spread of cookies, fruit, cheese cubes and Jason’s Deli sandwiches as they patiently await election night results.

As polls close and results start coming in, Duke Rodriguez stands in his home surrounded by food and supporters.

He said he spent the day visiting poll sites and interacting with several hundred voters. Rodriguez said there is a record number of voters and no matter the results, he is proud of the turnout.

“Some of them were real positive, saying we haven’t voted, we’re headed to the polls,” he said. “Others may have voted for other candidates, but everyone was very respectful, and it’s been a very nice experience.”

As the day has gone on, he said he has not felt many nerves but rather excitement. No matter the results, he plans to end the day comfortably and proudly drifting off to sleep knowing that he laid everything out there.

Either way, I plan on very comfortably and proudly putting my head on my toe and sleeping completely comfortable with what we’ve done to the state; we have laid everything out there.

“We have competed aggressively…,” Rodriguez said, “and at this point, we will leave it up to the voters, and we’ll see how it turns out.”

It’s a windy scene at a rally hosted at the Republican Party of New Mexico headquarters in Albuquerque Tuesday evening, but party members are feeling steady heading into election night.

Before a two-step dancing session broke out to the tune of a lively violinist, rally attendees heard from Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull, who stopped by briefly before making his way to Rio Rancho.

In his speech, Hull recalled months of traveling across the state, having conversations and doing things he never imagined — including flying into Silver City in a small twin turbo prop airplane in the middle of a storm.

“That was a new experience, but you know, it was worth it,” Hull said, citing a wide range of insights from communities across the state about education, policy, crime, child welfare and affordability.

Hull touted his experience working with stakeholders in Rio Rancho as a foundation for which he says he is equipped to build off of for the entire state.

“We’re constantly fighting being the last in everything best and the first in everything worst,” Hull said. “We live in a beautiful state, we live in New Mexico — the greatest state in the 50. … Now, we need to start living up to our potential in this state.”

If Hull doesn’t snag a victory tonight’s primary, he said he will “100%” support whichever Republican candidate does. He hopes to hear the other GOP hopefuls say the same because “at the end of the day, we need to win the Roundhouse,” Hull said.

The Old Town Plaza felt more like a celebration than an election party Tuesday evening.

Whipping winds did little to deter supporters who could be seen walking the square as they clutched snacks and cups of agua Fresca sold by local vendors.

The song ‘Hotel California’ blared from the center of the plaza’s gazebo and bright lights illuminated the middle of the stage.

Large screens plastered on either side of the plaza bore signs that said Governor 2026, Deb Haaland.

As Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner crisscrossed polling locations in Albuquerque throughout the day, he was greeted with hugs, handshakes, fist bumps — and at least one middle finger.

When he told one voter at Caracol Plaza his name and that he was running for governor, the voter said with a laugh “good luck with that.”

But overall, Turner said he felt good about the day at his final polling pit stop. Despite joining the race a little late, roughly four months ago, Turner said he feels his campaign was able to pick up momentum and attention from both Republicans and Democrats.

Turner said it was his understanding that voter turnout was a little slower at the start of the day but that he is hopeful it picked up throughout the day.

As the polls prepare to close in the next hour, Turner is faced with a waiting game he said he’ll spend visiting and playing with his dogs, and maybe even cracking open a cold beer.

“(The dogs) don’t even know there’s a race and they won’t care tomorrow,” Turner said.

Turner is expected to head to the Republican Party of New Mexico headquarters after results come in. In a campaign, Turner said a candidate always feels like they could do more, but he said he’s also excited about the support he built in a short amount of time.

A victory, Turner said, would be “the culmination of an enormous amount of work” by himself and his campaign team. He said it would also mark a moment of change for the people of New Mexico.

“I view myself as a change agent, and I think that’s what this state wants,” Turner said.

But regardless of the results, Turner said he‘ll consider his campaign raising important issues and mobilizing Republicans as a win — something he said he hopes continues heading into the general election in November.

As of 2 p.m., a total of 78,325 New Mexico residents had cast their ballots on Election Day.

That boosted total turnout for the primary election to about 260,000 votes cast — or 18.3% of all eligible voters.

Registered Democrats have continued to vote at a higher clip than Republicans or independents, but voting among both Republicans and independents has ticked up on Election Day.

As voters across New Mexico headed to the polls early Tuesday morning, conservative gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner woke up to one of his signature campaign issues hitting close to home.

In a post on X, Turner said he was headed to the polls himself when he discovered his daughter’s car had been broken into and trashed.

Turner cited the incident as an example of the “out of control” crime he hopes to address as governor.

“This is the problem we have in New Mexico,” Turner said in video attached to the post, showing the GOP hopeful standing beside a black vehicle with the driver’s side window shattered on the ground in front of his feet. “Please get out and vote today. We have to end this.”

Most contested legislative primary races involve Democrats, who hold political control in House

Democratic gubernatorial candidate says he’d bring sense of urgency to pressing issues

Democratic gubernatorial candidate says she’s not worried about criticism as she seeks party’s nomination.

Former Rio Rancho mayor touts pragmatism, civility during Journal Town Hall