There are no early surprises in the first week of early voting for the 2026 election. About 30,000 votes were cast statewide through Monday, according to the Secretary of State. Democrats dominate the early turnout with 59% of the total, while Republicans sit at 27% and independents account for 14%.The

Vasquez & CunninghamA look through the sole ABQ Journal poll of New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District paints a grim picture for Republican challenger Greg Cunningham, virtually shutting down his pathways to victory.To stay competitive, the retired APD detective needed to hold off Democratic incumbent Rep. Gabe Vasquez in the populous

More voters in the populous ABQ metro are withholding judgment on the gubernatorial race than most other regions, appearing to prevent Democrat Deb Haaland from reaching the key 50 percent mark in her race against Republican Gregg Hull.The second and final poll on the contest from the ABQ Journal—taken October

Sen. StewartMimi's mess is getting messier.It's revealed in newly released police video from the Santa Fe PD that at her 2024 auto accident, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart phoned the Governor's office and asked them to send the state police to the scene to handle the investigation. The request

Gregg Hull (Journal)Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull faced off with the cost-of-living crisis and scored, but to win the argument his messaging may need to be sharpened.While Santa Fe is tied in knots over what to do with billions of oil revenue flowing into state coffers—and as voters suffer exceptionally

She’s a political superstar on the national stage, but Deb Haaland has yet to close the deal with New Mexico voters in her race to become the next governor, despite raising over $17 million and holding a massive name ID advantage over Republican Gregg Hull.The SurveyUSA poll taken for KOB-TV

President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart pushed back a challenge from Sen. Liz Stefanics at Sunday's caucus of Senate Democrats to keep the top leadership post in the Senate. Meanwhile, Sen. Linda Trujillo beat out two challengers to become the new Majority Leader; Sen. Cindy Nava took over as Majority Whip

Deb Haaland has taken some hard hits over Project Jupiter. She was especially scorched by anti-Jupiter activists for taking over $85,000 in campaign contributions from developers of the giant data center in Doña Ana County and then refusing to return those contributions.Now she is being flayed on social media for

Opponents of a constitutional amendment that would provide some of the highest legislative salaries in the nation to New Mexico lawmakers are confident they can defeat it, but they could easily lose if they don't get a quick cash infusion to spread their message. National and local progressive groups have

In a break with tradition, Senate Democrats will caucus this Sunday to choose their leaders for the next two years. Usually, the meeting is held following the November general election, but not this time. The date switch, which we learned of after first blogging that the meeting would be in

Campaign '26 may have reached an inflection point with Deb Haaland’s decision to forego all debates with Republican opponent Gregg Hull. By stepping away from the "debate over debates"—a distraction her team characterized as a sideshow—she neutralized the issue.Haaland turned a potential vulnerability—her perceived hesitation around formal debates—into a display

The Haaland campaign ended debate discussions with the Hull campaign late Thursday after both sides failed to reach an agreeable date. There will be no debate between the two governor candidates before the Nov. 3 election.Here are the emails each sent regarding their final clash over debating: Haaland’s campaign: “Deb

Is the Deb Haaland camp terrified that permitting her to debate Republican gubernatorial opponent Gregg Hull could cost her the election or something close to it? Haaland has so far refused to debate Hull, making her only the second major-party candidate to skip a general election TV debate in the

Gregg Hull Struggling to recover from her first major campaign blunder, Deb Haaland insisted she can "chew gum and walk at the same time." But the line only prompted critics to pile on, demanding she prove her multitasking prowess by finally agreeing to a live TV debate with her Republican

Deb HaalandNew Mexican politics are not about to make a dramatic shift to the left if Democrat Deb Haaland wins the governorship November 3. The progressive wing of her party may be ignoring what she says—as they often have with Gov. Lujan Grisham—but facts speak for themselves. Haaland is planting

Haaland and HullHow can the Republican candidate for governor run an effective campaign if the industry most critical to their fundraising is not going all-in? That’s the dilemma confronting GOP standard-bearer Gregg Hull.In his latest financial report covering June 28 through Sept. 7, we count about $300,000 in direct and

Vasquez and CunninghamWhat’s with Greg Cunningham’s obsession with border security and crime? Doesn’t he know those issues have fallen down the list of voter concerns as an economic tidal wave heads towards the state in the form of inflation? Won’t the economy (and Trump) be the deciding factors in his

Make it three in a row. That appears to be the case with the five statewide executive offices on the November ballot which went to Democrats in 2018 and 2022 and are set for a three-peat.That expectation is grounded in ABQ Journal polling showing races for Attorney General, Secretary of

Rep. Andrea Romero Alright. Let's dive in to all the political news from New America. . . er. . . New Mexico. Talk about crashing and burning. State Rep. Andrea Romero has done both in grand style, leaving a promising political career in ruins. It is a story no one

Hull and HaalandThe first major public poll of the '26 gubernatorial chase seems to rule out a blow-out win by Democrat Deb Haaland but nudges only slightly, if at all, that big boulder that lies on the path to victory for Republican Gregg Hull. The ABQ Journal survey conducted August

Sen. Wirth and Sen. TrujilloThere will be a new power player in Santa Fe come November and their rise to prominence will have little to do with the election. Sen. Peter Wirth, who has served in the powerful position of Senate Majority Leader since 2017, is leaving leadership and indications

Hull and HaalandThe sleepy '26 gubernatorial race is about to be jolted awake. Whether it returns to a coma-like condition may be dependent on the severity of the jolt. At the end of the month--August 30 to be precise--the ABQ Journal will release their first poll of the contest featuring

We could discuss endlessly why a state with the well-deserved nickname the "Land of Enchantment" has undergone one of the greatest periods of population stagnation in its over 400 year history. Instead let's focus on one aspect of that stagnation impacting our politics. That would be how folks here are

UPDATE: The ABQ City Council Monday evening said the panel has "dismissed" the proposed increase in the gross receipts tax. Affordability is the buzzword for the '26 campaign but that falls on deaf ears among some members of the ABQ City Council. Two councilors in particular, Council President Klarissa Peña,

If they're going to move the New Mexico presidential primary to February 15, 2008 instead of holding it late in the nominating cycle in June, how about a favorite son candidate (or is it favorite daughter now)? As the fourth state to go up to bat under a Democratic National

Sen. PopeThe race for lieutenant governor is revealing a much more aggressive left wing in the state Democratic party with important implications for economic policy should Deb Haaland become the next governor. The race for the number two spot features two leading hopefuls--term-limited State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard and

Gregg HullThe Gregg Hull ship has sprung another dangerous leak with DC pundits bailing out amid a developing financial crisis for the Republican gubernatorial nominee. The Cook Political Report has rerated his race with Democratic nominee Deb Haaland, taking it from "Likely Democratic" to "Solid Democratic." That is only going

Hull & HaalandThere will be no early start for Gregg Hull. The '26 GOP gubernatorial nominee is stuck in neutral following the first month of the campaign, lacking the financial muscle to engage Democrat Deb Haaland whose well-oiled money machine has already churned out over $13 million with more to

Haaland & Garcia RichardThere's little doubt that outgoing State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard is highly likely to become the Democratic party's lieutenant governor nominee after securing the endorsement of gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland but things could still get messy. (Haaland video here.)Notably, the state Democratic party will not conduct

With Primary '26 in the books, we're taking a blogging break so posts will be occasional. To be notified via email whenever we add a post, subscribe to the blog by using the link on the right or at this link. Thanks for your continued interest. Now a final look