Sandoval County has two highly sought-after state Senate seats.
District 12
Senate District 12 was recently redistricted to cover parts of the Westside of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. With Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino (D-Albuquerque) deciding not to run after 20 years of service, three candidates ran for the position.
Republican Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block will face Democrat Phillip Ramirez in the general election in November, after Block beat his opponent Candace Gould in the primary by 32 percentage points as of press time, according to unofficial election results on the secretary of state’s website.
According to the Associated Press, Block voted twice as a commissioner in 2022 against certifying local election results while stoking doubts about election integrity.
District 9
In District 9, Audrey Trujillo of Corrales won the GOP nomination for an open seat after running unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2022. She has cheered Trump’s efforts to reverse the will of voters in 2020. Trujillo bested Frida Susana Vasquez of Rio Rancho with 58% of the vote in the district stretching from Rio Rancho to Algodones, including portions of Sandia Pueblo.
Democrats had to choose between Heather Balas of Corrales and Cindy Nava of Bernalillo. Nava won the Democratic nomination over Balas with 55% of the vote.
Busy polling sites and a power outage
Sandoval County Clerk Anne Brady-Romero said the election was very busy but noted that one issue arose, which was promptly addressed.
“Bernalillo High School lost power but we deployed generators over there,” Brady-Romero said. “There were no hiccups as far as I know…we are here to do a job and we do it well.”
According to the secretary of state’s website, 17,004 ballots were cast in Sandoval County out of the 81,055 eligible voters, roughly 20%.
The Sandoval County Commission will canvas the election on Friday, June 14.