Overview
In the 28 presidential elections that have taken place since New Mexico became a state in 1912, voters have selected the presidential candidate who won nationally 89% of the time, giving the electorate one of the highest accuracy rates for national outcomes in the country.
Generally, voters had been almost evenly divided in their preferences for one major party over the other. But in the past two decades, New Mexicans have voted for Democratic candidates in seven of the past eight presidential elections, only preferring a Republican in 2004 when George W. Bush narrowly won over John Kerry (by a 1% margin).
In 2020, President Biden won New Mexico by 99,720 votes—an 11% lead—which earned him the state’s five electoral votes. Democrats have held both Senate seats since 2009, and all three members of New Mexico’s House delegation are Democrats. The governorship has also been in Democratic hands since 2018, giving New Mexico a Democratic trifecta along with a Democratic triplex since the secretary of state and attorney general are also Democrats.
Still, New Mexico was one of seven states in which pro-Trump Republicans prepared fake Electoral College certificates to obstruct the January 6, 2021, congressional proceeding constitutionally mandated to certify that President Biden won the election. The five New Mexico fake electors signed documents with conditional language specifying that “it might later be determined that we are the duly elected and qualified Electors.” When they did so on December 14, 2020, the secretary of state’s office had already certified that Biden had won the state by a comfortable margin.
2020 Election Fallout
After President Biden was sworn in, election denialism continued to simmer in New Mexico, where the far-right faction of the GOP has kept the misinformation and conspiracy theories alive on social media, and local officials have helped amplify the lies.
Election Deniers Running for Congress
In New Mexico, only one Republican running for the Senate in 2024 has spread lies or conspiracies about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election or raised doubts about the integrity of that and subsequent elections.
Election Deniers Running for Statewide Office
No candidate currently running for statewide office in New Mexico has questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election. The governor (Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham), attorney general (Democrat Raul Torres), and secretary of state (Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver) are collectively responsible for ensuring that elections in the state run smoothly, are fair, and accurately reflect the will of voters.
Election Deniers in the State Legislature
In New Mexico, at least three election deniers currently serve in the state legislature—all in the House—accounting for 3% of the 112-person assembly. Two of them (in districts 55 and 61) ran unopposed in 2022 and are running unopposed again in 2024, with the third representative (in District 51) winning his first term in 2022 with 63% of the vote. This representative participated in the march to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, posting a photo and message on social media urging “patriots” to “FIGHT.LIKE.HELL.”
Election Deniers Administering Elections
A handful of election administrators in New Mexico who are responsible for overseeing the process in their counties parrot Trump’s claims of a “rigged” election in 2020 and continue to spread disinformation about election integrity in 2024.
Election Deniers in GOP Leadership
As elsewhere around the country, Republicans in New Mexico have been at odds with one another in the wake of Trump’s 2020 electoral loss. The moderate wing of the party seems to be losing ground as its state chairman has been pushing a total embrace of Trumpism since he took charge in 2018.