Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver announced Tuesday that she is ending her U.S. Senate campaign.
The Democrat announced her campaign in April of this year, a month after U.S Sen. Tom Udall announced he would not seek a third term.
Toulouse Oliver said she was proud of her campaign and pledged to continue “protecting our elections from outside interference or voter suppression.”
She said her work as the state’s top elections official “protecting our elections from outside interference or voter suppression.”
Toulouse Oliver also endorsed U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, now the lone Democrat in the race. Luján led Toulouse Oliver in fundraising in the most recent quarter.
Luján said in a statement of his own that Toulouse Oliver “is a friend.”
“In this campaign, Maggie stood up for our values – like health care for all and addressing the climate crisis,” he said. “Her voice made our democratic process stronger, and I’m honored to have her support for my U.S. Senate campaign.”
She also said she helped push the race in a more progressive direction.
“When I entered the race for U.S. Senate, I was the only candidate supporting Medicare for All; I was the only candidate rejecting corporate PAC money; and I was the only candidate calling for impeachment,” Toulouse Oliver said. “Over the course of this campaign, that has changed. We have elevated the issues of health care as a human right, of holding the president accountable, and of keeping big money out of politics.”
On the Republican side, former Donald Trump administration official Gavin Clarkson and Albuquerque contractor and 2018 Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mick Rich are running for the party’s nomination.
