March 21, 2018

NM Elections Roundup: Two GOP House members say no to reelection and more elections news…

There was some big news in the land of elections over the last week here in New Mexico. The biggest news was probably two Republican member sof the House who decided not to run for another term: House Minority Leader Nate Gentry and Sarah Maestas Barnes. Both are from Albuquerque. They are also both in […]

Matthew Reichbach

There was some big news in the land of elections over the last week here in New Mexico. The biggest news was probably two Republican member sof the House who decided not to run for another term: House Minority Leader Nate Gentry and Sarah Maestas Barnes. Both are from Albuquerque.

They are also both in districts that increasingly lean towards Democrats and would have been tough for Republicans to hold even with the incumbency advantage.

You can see more analysis of these and other legislative seats here.

In the gubernatorial race, Peter DeBenedittis decided to end his run for governor after a poor showing at the Democratic pre-primary convention. He fired some shots at Michelle Lujan Grisham on his way out, without naming her. He later endorsed Jeff Apodaca.

More news you might have missed:

The Democratic Party of New Mexico’s chairman resigned last week. His response to allegations of sexual harassment, first against a county commissioner then another against the head of a key union ally, angered many Democrats who pushed him out.
Lt. Gov. candidate Jeff Carr also called it quits after the pre-primary convention. He urged people to vote for Jeff Apodaca (he did not endorse in the Lt. Gov. race).
Xochitl Torres Small got a big endorsement in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary: EMILY’s List backed her, which could be a big help in the battle for campaign cash.
The United Mine Workers endorsed Lujan Grisham.
Planned Parenthood Votes New Mexico endorsed Maggie Toulouse Oliver for Secretary of State.
If Democrats want to take control of the U.S. House, they’ll need to have a lot of help form the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And while we all (well, our readers surely do) that U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan is the chair of the group, everyone might not know that Dan Sena, the DCCC’s executive director, has some extensive New Mexico connections as well. Roll Call profiled Sena.

This is an abbreviated version of the Elections Roundup. To get the full Elections Roundup each Tuesday morning, sign up for free.