Incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won their New Mexico primaries, leading a primary with extremely low turnout.
Both Biden and Trump have locked up their respective party’s nominations ahead of New Mexico’s primary. Still, both received just 84 percent of the vote, as of 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, in the primaries because of other candidates still on the ballot and voters choosing “uncommitted.”
Among Democrats, 10 percent chose “uncommitted.” This came after a campaign by opponents of the U.S. support of Israel in the Gaza War. Another 7 percent chose Marianne Williamson, the only other Democrat on the ballot. Williamson, a self-help guru, suspended her campaign after the Nevada caucuses in February, then restarted her campaign later that month.
On the Republican side, Trump faced three other candidates on the ballot, all of whom have since dropped out. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley received the support of 9 percent of voters, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie received 3 percent and Vivek Ramaswamy received 1 percent. Three percent of Republicans voted uncommitted.
Libertarian Lars Mapstead was the only candidate on the ballot for the party and received 56 percent of the vote, with 44 percent of Libertarians voting uncommitted. The national Libertarian Party already chose Chase Oliver as its candidate.
With only one seriously contested federal race and no statewide races on the ballot, as elections for those positions are held in non-presidential years, just 229,384 people cast ballots, according to the Secretary of State’s results page as of 11 pm. on June 4. This is a turnout of just 22.68 percent of eligible voters.
In 2020, 417,538 voters cast ballots in the primary which is 42.01 percent of eligible voters.
In that election, there were a number of contested federal races: Republican U.S. Senate, and all three congressional district races, and a contested 3rd Congressional District race for Democrats.
The year also featured a higher-than-normal number of absentee ballots because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said the elections ran smoothly in a statement sent out Tuesday night.
“Another successful New Mexico Primary Election is in the books and I appreciate every voter who took the time to cast their ballot and make their voice heard,” Toulouse Oliver said in the statement. “I want to thank all the county clerks and their staff, the poll workers, our vendors, and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners for their professionalism in helping to ensure the smooth conduct of this election. For this election cycle my Office implemented a variety of new tools that I’m proud to say added up to an easier and more secure experience for candidates and voters.
Only members of major parties can vote in primaries, though decline-to-state voters can change their party to vote in any of the major party primaries.
A small number of votes will come in as provisional ballots and other ballots that could not be counted on election day are added to the total.
The only federal race with more than one candidate on the ballot was the Republican 1st Congressional District primary. Republicans have not held the 1st Congressional District seat since 2008, and incumbent Democrat Melanie Ann Stansbury is expected to hold the seat in November.
Republican Steve Jones led Louis Sanchez 51 percent to 49 percent with 627 out of 766 precincts reporting as of 11 p.m., likely enough to avoid a recount.
