In what is perhaps a signal that New Mexico will get some attention from candidates for the primary on the Democratic side since 2008, Hillary Clinton announced her leadership team ahead of New Mexico’s June primaries.
Veteran Democratic political operative Scott Forrester will be the campaign’s State Director. Rich Thuma will be the Organizing Director and Victor Reyes* will work as the Communications Director.
The primaries take place on June 7.
Forrester previously worked as the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and also as the New Mexico House Caucus Director when Democrats were in control of the chamber. He runs Bosque Strategies, a political consulting firm that is involved in many races throughout the state.
The campaign announced that the campaign will open offices throughout the state in the coming weeks.
This is the first news out of the Democratic candidates ahead of the New Mexico primary.
Clinton may all but wrap up the Democratic nomination before the primary. New Mexico holds its primaries on the final day that states can hold primaries.
In 2008, Democrats moved their races up to earlier in the cycle in an attempt to exert more influence on the nominating process. Clinton narrowly defeated then-Sen. Barack Obama in a hybrid primary-caucus contest in New Mexico.
Bernie Sanders has repeatedly said that he intends to stay in the race until the convention. Most candidates are forced to drop out when they run out of money to continue operating, but Sanders has raised large amounts of money from small donors, leaving him with a sizeable warchest.
On the Republican side, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich made news when they announced that Cruz would not campaign in New Mexico, leaving Kasich to duke it out with frontrunner Donald Trump.
There is an open question over whether or not Trump will reach a majority of delegates ahead of the convention, leading to the rare possibility of a contested convention.
The Republican primary also takes place on June 7.
Since New Mexico has closed primaries, New Mexicans who wish to take place in either primary must be registered as a member of that party by May 10.
* Reyes is a staff member of ProgressNow New Mexico. ProgressNow New Mexico helps find funding for NM Political Report. No one at ProgressNow New Mexico, including Reyes, has any say in editorial matters on this or any other story.
