Across New Mexico in roughly half of the state’s 33 counties, voters will cast their ballots in the Nov. 4 local elections, deciding the outcomes for 997 contests, which include mayors and other municipal officials; hospital board members; soil and water districts; and various school boards.
As of publication early Tuesday morning, 162,586 residents had cast either early or absentee ballots, approximately 11.8% of the state’s nearly 1.4 million voters.
Voter turnout during years without federal races typically runs significantly lower. For instance, turnout for local elections in November 2023 was about 20.5% versus 69% for the November 2024 general election.
New Mexico allows people to register and vote on the same day in person, or register online here. As of publication, 2,369 people had utilized same-day voter registration. Voters who are changing party affiliation, legal name or who have recently moved need to fill out a new registration form.
New Mexico voters must be citizens, older than 18 years at the time of the election, residing in the state and not denied the right to vote by the courts. People on probation or parole are allowed to vote, but not people in jails or prisons.
The New Mexico Secretary of State offers a service to find nearby polling locations by typing in a ZIP code.
Polls across the state will close at 7 p.m.
The 50 nonpartisan mayoral races across the state include contests in New Mexico’s capitol and its largest city, which are fielding crowded mayoral races. These municipal contests have adopted different structures than some of the state’s other elections.
For example, Santa Fe has employed rank choice voting since 2018, which allows voters to rank candidates in races with more than two candidates in order of preference. In ranked-choice voting, a winning candidate must receive a simple majority of the total votes cast. If no winner emerges on the count, candidates with the fewest number of top-ranked votes are eliminated and their second-place candidates are counted, until a candidate crosses the 50%-plus-one vote threshold.
Voters in Santa Fe’s mayoral race have the option to rank eight candidates vying to replace two-term Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber, who is not running for reelection. The Santa Fe Clerk’s office says it will be livestreaming the tabulation rounds on its YouTube and Facebook pages.
Both Albuquerque and Gallup have automatic runoffs for their mayoral races. That means if no candidate garners more than 50% of the vote, then the top two candidates in the Gallup and Albuquerque mayoral races will head to a Dec. 9 runoff election, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office.
In Albuquerque, incumbent Tim Keller faces five challengers for the city’s top position on Nov. 4. They include former U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez and former Bernalillo County Sheriff turned cannabis mogul Darren White. Also in the running are Louie Sanchez, a one-term Albuquerque city councilor and former police officer; Mayling Armijo, a Navy veteran and former economic development director for the city; and Eddie Varela, a former firefighter.
In Gallup, three challengers are looking to replace current Mayor Louie Bonaguidi, who did not run for reelection.
Beyond candidates, voters will be asked to decide on bonds and ballot questions.
These includes a request by Albuquerque Public Schools that would allow them to access up to $350 million for construction on school buildings, equipment and matching funds for capital outlay projects from the state.
The City of Albuquerque is also asking voters to approve more than $180 million across 11 bonds, including specific funds for libraries, museums, community centers, police stations and more.
In Santa Fe, voters will be asked to decide if the city’s governing documents should be amended to change the powers of the mayor and the city council.
That will include a question asking if voters will approve a change to allow city councilors to remove or suspend the city manager, city attorney or city clerk, if a supermajority of six councilors agree to do so.
The other question will ask voters to decide if they will amend the city charter to restrict the mayor’s vote to only instances of tie-breaking or if the council had too few members present without the vote.
Additionally, Santa Fe Public Schools is seeking access to $150 million to improve school facilities and purchase computers. The fourth and final ballot question will ask voters to decide if the district can keep current property tax rates of $150 per $100,000 in assessed property to fund school facilities technology upgrades.
