Despite being often overshadowed by his two more high-profile opponents in the headlines, former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said he is confident that there is a path for him to capture the Democratic nomination for governor next year, and is satisfied with how his campaign is going.
“I think we’re doing pretty good. I feel really happy with where we’re at at this point in time,” Miyagishima said in an interview with New Mexico Political Report. He gave the interview ahead of a visit to Santa Fe on Friday for the Democratic Style Fashion Show, a fundraiser for the Democratic Party of Santa Fe County.
A poll conducted in mid-August and commissioned by the campaign of one of his opponents, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, shows Miyagishima garnering the support of 9% of likely Democratic primary voters, far less than either Haaland or the party’s other primary contender, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman. He also lacks some of the high-profile endorsements that his rivals have received.
Still, Miyagishima said he thinks that when he appears on the debate stage and in forums alongside Haaland and Bregman, and policy becomes a larger part of the discussion, voters will start to give his candidacy more serious consideration.
“As long as I make it to the playoffs, and the playoffs, to me, is the debates, that’s where we’re gonna work. That’s where the public gets to see the real substance of the candidates,” he said.
Miyagishima said his decades of experience in local government will come through in debates and make him best suited to be the state’s next chief executive.
“I know how counties run. I was a county commissioner for eight years, and I know how cities run. I’ve been a member of a city for 22 years and…, you know, I, I know the rules, I know the laws, and it’s just, I’m the only one that doesn’t need any on-the-job training,” he said.
Miyagishima has been leaning heavily on spreading word of his bid for the nomination through social media. He said that one of his videos posted on his campaign Facebook page had reached 103,000 views as of Thursday morning. He has also been hitting the campaign trail in and around Albuquerque, Santa Fe and predominantly Native American areas to build up his name recognition.
A self-described moderate, Miyagishima claims he can attract voters beyond the party’s progressive base, such as Republicans, or individuals registered with a minor political party or not registered with any political party. The latter category in New Mexico is known as Decline to State or DTS.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M, signed legislation earlier this year that makes it easier for those voters to cast a ballot in a major political party primary without changing their party affiliation.
Next year will be the first time those changes apply in statewide primaries in New Mexico, and Miyagishima views those voters as a potential pool of supporters in his bid for the Democratic nomination.
“DTS is the wild card, I’m hoping to get their majority support,” he said.