Nella Domenici is the lone Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, after Manny Gonzales III failed to qualify for the ballot. Gonzales did not file enough signatures to qualify for the pre-primary convention.
The Secretary of State’s office said that Gonzales did not reach the required number of signatures. A spokesman said he filed approximately 875 signatures; candidates needed 2,351 valid signatures to qualify for the pre-primary convention.
The Secretary of State’s list of candidates says, as of Tuesday, that Gonzales is disqualified from the ballot.
NM Political Report reached out to a campaign spokesman for Gonzales but did not receive a comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
On the Democratic side, incumbent Martin Heinrich was the only person to file to run for the seat. Heinrich is seeking a third term in the Senate, after previously serving in the U.S. House.
Domenici, the daughter of longtime U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, said in a press release that she is the only Republican candidate who qualified for the ballot.
“Our campaign is about the priorities of all New Mexico voters, and I look forward to meeting, listening to, and earning the vote of New Mexicans across the state,” Domenici said in the press release. “Every day, more and more families are joining our hard-working team because they know I value collaboration, which will address the dysfunction, partisanship, and gridlock in Washington.”
Nella Domenici’s father was the last Republican to win a U.S. Senate election, when he won his sixth term in 2002. He retired because of health issues instead of running in 2008 and was replaced by Democrat Tom Udall.
The failure to reach the ballot was the latest electoral setback for Gonzales, who served two terms as the Bernalillo County Sheriff.
Gonzales was a Democrat at the time, and won races in 2014 and 2018. But he then lost a nonpartisan race for mayor of Albuquerque in 2021 by a wide margin to incumbent Tim Keller.
Citing what he called “radical elements within the national Democratic Party,” Gonzales announced he switched parties to become a Republican and his candidate for U.S. Senate. He appeared on Fox News to launch his campaign.
But when Nella Domenici, a former executive for a hedge fund firm, announced her candidacy, she also had the support of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign, the campaign arm of the Republican Party that seeks to elect Republicans to the Senate.
With Gonzales’ failure to make the ballot, the only contested congressional primary will be the Republican race in the 1st Congressional District with Albuquerque gun range owner Louie Sanchez facing former energy consultant Steve Jones of Ruidoso.
