Primary Election Results—A News Wrap-up
By Susannah Abbey

The voters have cast their ballots, most of the ballots have been counted, and by now most of us are confident of the putative winners of the New Mexico primaries. For U.S. Senate, Ben Ray Lujan has garnered the Democratic nomination. For U.S. Congressional District 1, Deb Haaland is our choice. Among Bernalillo County contested races, Nancy Marie Bearce won the nomination for County Treasurer. County Commission primary Democratic winners are Steven Michael Quezada and Adriann Barboa.

Democratic nominees for many State Senate races were chosen locally and across the state. Progressive candidates Neomi Martinez-Parra and Carrie Hamblin won their primary races against John Arthur Smith (who has held office since 1988) and Mary Kay Papen, respectively. Also, Pamela Cordova won against Clemente Sanchez. This points to a progressive shift among Democrats in the state races. Already, the state GOP sees opportunities to win these seats by presenting the winning candidates as “far-left.” All the more reason to get out the vote in November!

Voter turnout was just under 40%, and absentee voting was at an all-time high. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans voted absentee, “reflecting the two parties’ conflicting stances on social distancing and the state’s stay-at-home orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.” In many races, absentee ballots exceeded both early and election day ballots combined.

As of Wednesday evening, final results of all races had not yet been posted. You can see the unofficial results by clicking https://electionresults.sos.state.nm.us