2018 New Mexico elections

A general election was held in the U.S. state of New Mexico on November 6, 2018. All of New Mexico's executive officers were up for election, as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of New Mexico's three seats in the United States House of Representatives.

Governor

Main article: 2018 New Mexico gubernatorial election

Incumbent Republican governor Susana Martinez was term-limited and could not run for election to a third consecutive term.

Results

New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2018^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michelle Lujan Grisham/Howie Morales	396,603	57.2
	Republican	Steve Pearce/Michelle Holmes	297,185	42.8
Total votes			693,788	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

Attorney general

New Mexico Attorney General election, 2018

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Hector Balderas Michael Hendricks Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 427,583 231,296 Percentage 61.8% 33.4%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Balderas:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%     >90% Hendricks:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data

Attorney General before election Hector Balderas Democratic Elected Attorney General Hector Balderas Democratic

Incumbent Democratic attorney general Hector Balderas ran for re-election to a second term.^[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Hector Balderas, incumbent attorney general of New Mexico

Results

Democratic primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hector Balderas (incumbent)	150,515	100.0
Total votes			150,515	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Michael Hendricks, immigration attorney^[4]

Results

Republican primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Hendricks	66,588	100.0
Total votes			66,588	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

• A. Blair Dunn, attorney and son of Public Lands Commissioner Aubrey Dunn Jr.^[5]

Results

Libertarian primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	A. Blair Dunn	608	100.0
Total votes			608	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Hector Balderas (D)	Michael Hendricks (R)	A. Blair Dunn (L)	Undecided
Carroll Strategies[6]	October 29, 2018	1,200	± 2.8%	61%	34%	3%	3%
Global Strategy Group (D)[7][A]	August 27–30, 2018	601	± 4.0%	51%	30%	7%	12%
Carroll Strategies[8]	June 15–16, 2018	1,199	± 2.8%	55%	33%	5%	7%

Results

New Mexico Attorney General election, 2018^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Hector Balderas (incumbent)	427,583	61.81%	+3.54%
	Republican	Michael Hendricks	231,296	33.43%	−8.30%
	Libertarian	A. Blair Dunn	32,931	4.76%	N/A
Total votes			691,810	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Secretary of state

New Mexico Secretary of State election, 2018

← 2016 (special) November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Maggie Toulouse Oliver Gavin Clarkson Ginger Grider Party Democratic Republican Libertarian Popular vote 399,134 257,306 34,527 Percentage 57.8% 37.2% 5.0%

County results Oliver:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Clarkson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Secretary of States before election Maggie Toulouse Oliver Democratic Elected Secretary of States Maggie Toulouse Oliver Democratic

Incumbent Democratic secretary of state Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who was elected in the 2016 special election, ran for re-election to a full term in 2018.^[9]

For the general election, Governing magazine projected the race as "leans Democratic".^[10]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Maggie Toulouse Oliver, incumbent secretary of state

Results

Democratic primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Maggie Toulouse Oliver (incumbent)	148,545	100.0
Total votes			148,545	100.0

Republican primary

After winning the primary, Cox decided to withdraw from the race. As a result, the New Mexico Republican Party chose Gavin Clarkson as their nominee.^[11]

Candidates

Nominee

• Gavin Clarkson, former professor at New Mexico State University and former deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior^[11]

Withdrew

• JoHanna Cox, attorney^[12]

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	JoHanna Cox	67,041	100.0
Total votes			67,041	100.0

Libertarian primary

Jeff was replaced as the Libertarian nominee by Ginger Grider after withdrawing from the race.^[13]

Candidates

Nominee

• Ginger Grider, medical cannabis advocate^[14]

Withdrew

• Sandra Jeff, former Democratic state representative (2009–2015)^[15][13]

Results

Libertarian primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Sandra Jeff	604	100.0
Total votes			604	100.0

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing magazine[10]	Lean D	June 4, 2018

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D)	Gavin Clarkson (R)	Ginger Grider (L)	Undecided
Carroll Strategies[6]	October 29, 2018	1,200	± 2.8%	52%	40%	3%	5%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D)	JoHanna Cox (R)	Sandra Jeff (L)	Undecided
Carroll Strategies[8]	June 15–16, 2018	1,199	± 2.8%	52%	29%	6%	14%

Hypothetical polling

Results

New Mexico Secretary of State election, 2018^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Maggie Toulouse Oliver (incumbent)	399,134	57.76%	+1.17%
	Republican	Gavin Clarkson	257,306	37.24%	–6.17%
	Libertarian	Ginger Grider	34,527	5.00%	N/A
Total votes			690,967	100.0
	Democratic hold

Treasurer

New Mexico Treasurer election, 2018

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Tim Eichenberg Arthur Castillo Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 394,780 286,822 Percentage 57.9% 42.1%

County results Eichenberg:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Castillo:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Treasurer before election Tim Eichenberg Democratic Elected Treasurer Tim Eichenberg Democratic

Incumbent Democratic state treasurer Tim Eichenberg ran for re-election to a second term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Tim Eichenberg, incumbent state treasurer

Results

Democratic primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tim Eichenberg (incumbent)	141,227	100.0
Total votes			141,227	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Arthur L. Castillo, former CFO for the New Mexico State Treasurer's Office^[15][16]

Results

Republican primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur L. Castillo	65,813	100.0
Total votes			65,813	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Tim Eichenberg (D)	Arthur Castillo (R)	Undecided
Carroll Strategies[6]	October 29, 2018	1,200	± 2.8%	52%	40%	9%
Carroll Strategies[8]	June 15–16, 2018	1,199	± 2.8%	47%	37%	16%

Results

New Mexico State Treasurer election, 2018^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tim Eichenberg (incumbent)	394,780	57.92%	+5.46%
	Republican	Arthur L. Castillo	286,822	42.08%	−5.46%
Total votes			681,602	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Auditor

New Mexico Auditor election, 2018

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Brian Colón Wayne Johnson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 395,691 291,702 Percentage 57.6% 42.4%

County results Colón:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Johnson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Auditor before election Wayne Johnson Republican Elected Auditor Brian Colón Democratic

After incumbent Democratic state auditor Tim Keller was elected mayor of Albuquerque in the 2017 election, and resigned to take office, Governor Martinez appointed Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson (R) to be the new state auditor.^[17]

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Wayne A. Johnson, incumbent state auditor

Results

Republican primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne A. Johnson (incumbent)	68,267	100.0
Total votes			68,267	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Brian Colón, chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party^[15]
• Bill McCamley, state representative^[18]

Results

Democratic primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brian S. Colón	100,949	62.5
	Democratic	Bill McCamley	60,464	37.5
Total votes			161,413	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Brian Colón (D)	Wayne Johnson (R)	Undecided
Carroll Strategies[6]	October 29, 2018	1,200	± 2.8%	50%	45%	5%
Carroll Strategies[8]	June 15–16, 2018	1,199	± 2.8%	50%	38%	12%

Results

New Mexico State Auditor election, 2018^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Brian Colón	395,691	57.56%	+3.31%
	Republican	Wayne A. Johnson (incumbent)	291,702	42.44%	−3.31%
Total votes			687,393	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Commissioner of Public Lands

New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands election, 2018

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Stephanie Garcia Richard Patrick H. Lyons Michael Lucero Party Democratic Republican Libertarian Popular vote 352,335 297,379 39,791 Percentage 51.1% 43.1% 5.8%

County results Garcia Richard:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Lyons:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Commissioner before election Aubrey Dunn Jr. Libertarian Elected Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard Democratic

Incumbent Libertarian Commissioner of Public Lands Aubrey Dunn Jr. did not run for re-election to a second term in office.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Stephanie Garcia Richard, state representative^[20]
• George Muñoz, state senator^[21]
• Garrett VeneKlasen, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation^[22]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Garcia Richard	65,601	39.5
	Democratic	Garrett O. VeneKlasen	61,783	37.2
	Democratic	George K. Muñoz	38,770	23.3
Total votes			166,154	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Pat Lyons, New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner for the 2nd district and former New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands (2003–2011)^[23]

Results

Republican primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Patrick H. Lyons	67,527	100.0
Total votes			67,527	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

• Michael Lucero, rancher^[24]

Results

Libertarian primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Michael G. Lucero	608	100.0
Total votes			608	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Stephanie Garcia Richard (D)	Pat Lyons (R)	Michael Lucero (L)	Undecided
Carroll Strategies[6]	October 29, 2018	1,200	± 2.8%	45%	49%	3%	3%
Carroll Strategies[8]	June 15–16, 2018	1,199	± 2.8%	44%	41%	5%	9%

Results

New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands election, 2018^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Stephanie Garcia Richard	352,335	51.10%	+1.17%
	Republican	Pat Lyons	297,379	43.13%	−6.94%
	Libertarian	Michael G. Lucero	39,791	5.77%	N/A
Total votes			689,505	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Libertarian

Public Regulation Commission

Three of the five seats on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission were up for election.

District 2 Republican incumbent Pat Lyons did not run for re-election in order to run for Commissioner of Public Lands.^[23]

District 4 Democratic incumbent Lynda Lovejoy and District 5 Democratic incumbent Sandy R. Jones were eligible to run for re-election.

Public Education Commission

Five of the ten seats on the New Mexico Public Education Commission were up for election.

District 2 incumbent Republican Millie Pogna, District 3 incumbent Democrat Carmie Lynn Toulouse, District 5 incumbent Democrat James F. Conyers, District 6 incumbent Democrat Gilbert Peralta, and District 7 incumbent Democrat Patricia Gipson were eligible to run for re-election.

Supreme Court

Incumbent Gary L. Clingman was appointed by Governor Susana Martinez on April 6, 2018^[25] after Justice Edward L. Chávez retired.^[26] Justice Clingman ran for re-election to finish the remainder of Justice Chavez's term, ending in 2022.

General election

Results

County results
Vigil:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Clingman:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

2018 New Mexico Supreme Court election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael E. Vigil	403,573	59.17%
	Republican	Gary L. Clingman (incumbent)	278,502	40.83%
Total votes			682,075	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Court of Appeals

2018 New Mexico Court of Appeals election (Position 1)^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kristina Bogardus	370,314	54.58%
	Republican	Stephen French (incumbent)	308,146	45.42%
Total votes			678,460	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

2018 New Mexico Court of Appeals election (Position 2)^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jacqueline Medina	391,429	57.81%
	Republican	Henry Bohnhoff (incumbent)	285,681	42.19%
Total votes			677,110	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

2018 New Mexico Court of Appeals election (Position 3)^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Briana H. Zamora	390,971	57.79%
	Republican	Emil Kiehne (incumbent)	285,554	42.21%
Total votes			676,525	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

2018 New Mexico Court of Appeals election (Position 4)^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Megan Duffy	367,522	54.50%
	Republican	Daniel Gallegos (incumbent)	306,814	45.50%
Total votes			674,336	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

2018 New Mexico Court of Appeals election (Position 5)^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jennifer Attrep (incumbent)	466,482	100.0%
Total votes			466,482	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2018 New Mexico Court of Appeals, Judge J. Miles Hanisee (R) retention election^[1]

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	382,151	69.44
No	168,167	30.56
Total votes	550,318	100.00

New Mexico House of Representatives

Main article: 2018 New Mexico House of Representatives election

All 70 seats in the New Mexico House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. Democrats had a majority in the chamber heading into the election. On election day 2018, Democrats held 38 seats and Republicans held 32 seats. To re-claim control, Republicans needed to net four seats from Democrats.

Democrats increased their majority by flipping nine seats from Republican control. Following the 2018 election, Democrats held a 47 to 23 seat advantage over Republicans.

New Mexico State Senate

The New Mexico State Senate only holds regularly-scheduled elections every four years; therefore, no state senate seats were up for election in 2018, but all 42 were in 2020.

United States Senate

Main article: 2018 United States Senate election in New Mexico

Incumbent Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich was re-elected to a second term.^[27]

United States Senate election in New Mexico, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Martin Heinrich (incumbent)	376,998	54.1
	Republican	Mick Rich	212,813	30.5
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	107,201	15.4
Total votes			697,012	100.0
	Democratic hold

United States House of Representatives

Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in New Mexico

All of New Mexico's three seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. Democrats maintained District 1 and District 3 as well as flipped District 2 from Republicans. This means that there were no Republicans representing New Mexico in the federal government following the 2018 election.

District 1

District 1 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Deb Haaland	147,336	59.13
	Republican	Janice Arnold-Jones	90,507	36.32
	Libertarian	Lloyd Princeton	11,319	4.54
Total votes			249,162	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 2

District 2 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Xochitl Torres Small	101,489	50.93
	Republican	Yvette Herrell	97,767	49.07
Total votes			199,256	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 3

District 3 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ben Ray Luján (incumbent)	155,201	63.38
	Republican	Jerald Steve McFall	76,427	31.21
	Libertarian	Christopher Manning	13,265	5.42
Total votes			244,893	100.0
	Democratic hold

Notes

Partisan clients

1. Poll conducted for Hector Balderas.

References

1. "2018 General Election Results". New Mexico Secretary of State.
2. Terrell, Steve (May 16, 2017). "Balderas to seek re-election as AG, won't run for governor". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
3. "New Mexico Election Results". New Mexico Secretary of State. June 6, 2018.
4. Grover, Hannah (October 31, 2017). "Immigration lawyer will challenge Attorney General Hector Balderas in 2018 election". Farmington Daily Times. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
5. "Three Dunns running: For New Mexico's Libertarian Party, it's a family affair".
6. Carroll Strategies Archived 2018-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
7. Global Strategy Group (D)
8. Carroll Strategies
9. Reichbach, Matthew (June 20, 2017). "Toulouse Oliver will run for full term as SOS". New Mexico Political Report. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
10. Jacobson, Louis (June 4, 2018). "Secretary of State Races Are More Competitive and Important Than Ever". Governing. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
11. Nott, Robert. "GOP taps candidate for secretary of state after primary winner drops out". Santa Fe New Mexican. The Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
12. "Attorney to vie for secretary of state - Albuquerque Journal".
13. Lyman, Andy (August 24, 2018). "Libertarian Secretary of State nominee drops out of race". NM Political Report.
14. Lyman, Andy (September 7, 2018). "Straight party issue spurs Portales Libertarian to run for Secretary of State". NM Political Report.
15. "The Full List: New Mexico Major Party Candidates".
16. "Republican Arthur L. Castillo announces candidacy for New Mexico State Treasurer".
17. "Governor names fellow Republican as state auditor".
18. Chacón, Daniel J. (November 15, 2017). "First candidate enters race for open state auditor's seat". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
19. https://electionstats.sos.nm.gov/contest/8453
20. Stelnicki, Tripp (November 15, 2017). "Los Alamos legislator joins land commissioner race after Powell bows out". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
21. Boyd, Dan (August 8, 2017). "NM Sen. George Muñoz to run for state land boss". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
22. Paskus, Laura (May 26, 2017). "VeneKlasen announces State Land Office run". New Mexico Political Report. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
23. Boyd, Dan (July 26, 2017). "Ex-land commissioner plans to try and get his job back". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
24. Solovitch, Sara (May 22, 2018). "Most land commissioner candidates decline to make their case for children or office". New Mexico News Report.
25. "Governor Susana Martinez Appoints Judge Gary L. Clingman to the New Mexico Supreme Court" (PDF) (Press release). Santa Fe, New Mexico. April 6, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
26. "Commission nominates 2 for New Mexico Supreme Court seat". Santa Fe New Mexican. Associated Press. April 5, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
27. Coleman, Michael (November 10, 2016). "Who wants to be New Mexico's next governor?". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2016.

External links

• Candidates at Vote Smart
• Candidates at Ballotpedia
• Campaign finance at OpenSecrets

Official Attorney General campaign websites

• Hector Balderas (D) for Attorney General
• A. Blair Dunn (L) for Attorney General
• Michael Hendricks (R) for Attorney General

Official Secretary of State campaign websites

• Gavin Clarkson (R) for Secretary of State
• Ginger Grider (L) for Secretary of State
• Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D) for Secretary of State

Official State Treasurer campaign websites

• Arthur L. Castillo (R) for Treasurer
• Tim Eichenberg (D) for Treasurer

Official State Auditor campaign websites

• Brian Colón (D) for Auditor
• Wayne Johnson (R) for Auditor

Official Commissioner of Public Lands campaign websites

• Patrick H. Lyons (R) for Public Lands Commissioner
• Stephanie Garcia Richard (D) for Public Lands Commissioner

Official Public Regulation Commission district 2 campaign websites

• Jeff Byrd (R) for Public Regulation Commissioner
• Kevin Sanders (D) for Public Regulation Commissioner

Official Public Regulation Commission district 5 campaign websites

• Steve Fischmann (D) for Public Regulation Commissioner
• Ben Hall (R) for Public Regulation Commissioner