Interesting Matchups in Primary Filings

It’s election year. This year all 112 seats in the New Mexico Legislature are up for grabs. 

That isn’t totally accurate because 37 of those candidates have no opposition in either the primary or the general. No one else is “grabbing” for those seats. 

On the Republican side, nine House seats and nine Senate seats have competitive races. For Democrats, there are 15 completive House primaries and 11 competitive primaries on the Senate side. 

Competitive primaries are created by numerous factors. This year, there have been a number of retirements, which opened up opportunities. In addition, the impact of redistricting created a map that fosters competition. 

For example, rearranging the lines for Senate Districts 29 and 30 put two current Republican senators in Valencia County in the same district, SD 29. Sen. Greg Baca, the minority leader of the Senate, chose not to run rather than run against his colleague. When filing day arrived, the new SD 30 only saw Democrats file for the seat.

Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino’s retirement announcement during the redistricting process allowed for the redesign of his district. One Democrat and two Republicans have filed for the new SD 12. The Republican primary promises to be high profile. Former state Sen. Candace Gould, a moderate Republican, is hoping to return to the Senate. Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block, an election denier who lost a Republican gubernatorial primary in 2022, is her opponent. 

The redesign of Ortiz y Pino’s seat also helped to create new boundaries for SD 13, currently held by Sen. Bill O’Neill. The new district invited challenger Debbie O’Malley into the race. O’Malley is a former Bernalillo County Commissioner and city councilor who has long served parts of the district. Many of the voters in SD 13 have voted for her in the past. O’Neill is running for his third Senate term and now must introduce himself to the majority of voters in the district. 

In Eddy and Lea counties, the Republicans have an interesting primary in SD 42. The seat was vacated by Sen. Gay Kernan in 2023. Steve McCutcheon, a rancher and former Eddy County Commissioner, was appointed to fill Kernan’s seat until an election. Rep. Larry Scott of Hobbs was also favored for the appointment, but it didn’t happen. Now, he is running for the Senate seat. May the best Republican win and endorse the vote count after it is over. 

The powerful chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. George Muñoz of Gallup also faces primary opposition from unknown Keith Hillock. Muñoz is popular in SD 4 and has overcome opposition in every election. 

Some primaries are created by retirements and redrawing of district lines. Others, however, are created by members of their own party. This year, it should not go unnoticed that five of the Democrats in the House who voted no on Senate Bill 3, the paid family medical leave bill, are facing primary opposition: Reps. Patty Lundstrom, Marian Matthews, Harry Garcia, Willie Madrid, and Andres Castellano. With one exception these are Democrats representing rural New Mexico. Of the remaining six who voted no, five have no primary and one chose not to run again. 

If you wonder why these incumbent Democrats face opposition, the sponsor of the family leave bill, Democrat Senate President Mimi Stewart, and progressive groups have not been shy about recruiting and supporting candidates who will be more friendly to the bill, which has failed twice. Defeat a few of the opponents to SB 3 and it might pass next time. This risky strategy has the potential to backfire. 

So, lots of factors are at play when the same party primaries appear. New districts, new retirements, and new enemies.