New Mexico legislative candidates, from first-time filers to six-time incumbents, trickled into county clerks’ offices across the state Tuesday and turned in their declarations of candidacy ahead of the June 2 primary election.
March 10 marked the filing deadline for candidates to enter local races, including in the New Mexico House of Representatives, where all 70 seats are up for election, and 19 have drawn both Democratic and Republican primary challenges. All of Tuesday’s candidates remain pending until next week when election officials confirm they have met all the requirements. Statewide and Congressional races had an earlier filing deadline.
While in line at the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office Tuesday morning to file his bid for reelection in District 11, House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) told Source NM he thought one measure that will appear on the November ballot — a constitutional amendment to give state lawmakers a salary — had the potential to encourage more first-timers to run for office.
“I welcome a primary or general election opponent because that gives my district a choice,” Martínez said. “But it is hard for people to take that plunge, and I believe if we had a paid Legislature so people did not have to sacrifice themselves financially, we would get more competition.”
Several first-time Republican candidates for the House pointed to failed legislation to more closely regulate gun dealers and ban the sales of certain weapons and accessories as their reason for running. Corey Zimmerman, a 48-year-old hospice chaplain, and Chris Crane, a 58-year-old retired Albuquerque police officer and gun store owner, filed their petitions for Albuquerque districts Tuesday. While the legislation failed, both Crane and Zimmerman called it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
Further north, things were less lively. Just before noon, the Santa Fe County Clerk’s Office on Grant Avenue was largely empty.
So far that morning, only two candidates — incumbent Rep. Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe) and Sarah Boses, a Democrat seeking to represent District 50 as incumbent Rep. Matthew McQueen campaigns to be state land commissioner — had filed paperwork, County Clerk Katharine Clark told Source NM.
In primary elections, candidates in the same party compete to represent their party on the general election ballot. The June 2 primary will be the first time voters unaffiliated with either major party can vote in one of the major party’s primary races without having to change their registration first, following a new law adopted in 2025.
Contested House of Representative races
District 4
Rep. Joseph Franklin Hernandez (D-Shiprock) faces a challenge from Central Consolidated School District Board Secretary Christina Aspaas. Aspaas said she wants to see more economic development come to the Four Corners region of the state and lamented the loss of jobs that accompanied the closure of the San Juan Generating Station. Hernandez told Source NM he wants to help the area boost its housing stock and internet connectivity so that it no longer has to be over-reliant on one industry.
District 6
Three Democratic candidates have signed up to challenge incumbent Rep. Martha Garcia for House District 6. Priscilla Benally, Johnny Valdez and David Alcon are all seeking to unseat Garcia, whom New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed in February 2025, after former Rep. Eliseo Alcon (D-Milan) resigned due to health reasons.
Garcia told Source NM that she is unbothered by the primary challenges.
“I was appointed because of my qualifications, and I feel that people pretty well know my background and my qualification of being very transparent, very accountable and being able to move things forward,” she said.
Benally, a current Gallup-McKinley County School Board member, told Source she wants to continue her work advocating for children and for rural areas, and she wants to make her case to voters.
Alcon, who is the son of Eliseo Alcon, and Valdez did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Tuesday.
District 9
Incumbent Rep. Patricia “Patty” Lundstrom (D-Gallup) faces a challenge from Brandy Laughter, vice chair of the Democratic Party of McKinley County. Neither responded to a request for comment.
District 13
Incumbent Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque) faces a challenge from Matthew Archuleta, a property manager and former Albuquerque school board member.
District 14
Albuquerque-based personal injury attorney Joseph Romero filed paperwork to challenge longtime Rep. Miguel García (D-Albuquerque) for the District 14 seat. García first won election to the seat in the late 1990s. The last time he faced a primary challenger was in 2022, when Solomon Peña, currently serving 80 years for orchestrating shootings at elected Democrats’ homes, sought to represent the district. García did not respond to a request for comment.
Romero told Source NM that he wants to find ways to leverage the state’s surpluses from oil and gas revenue for working families across the state, not unlike Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Legislature did with the universal child care initiative.
“I’ve lived in the district over 20 years, I’ve seen things in the district that look like they’ve gone unaddressed. Issues with public safety, issues with education…a lack of economic opportunities for the families in the district,” he said.
District 16
Rep. Yanira Gurrola is facing a primary for her Albuquerque seat. Her opponent is Marsella Duarte Serna.
Duarte Serna said she will be a productive lawmaker and ensure capital outlay funds stay within the boundaries of the district, which she said the incumbent has not done.
Gurrola did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Tuesday.
District 24
Frankie McQuerry, a 33-year-old University of New Mexico employee, is making his first foray into politics and challenging Rep. Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson (D-Albuquerque) for District 24. He told Source NM that “now is the right time to get involved” in politics.
Thomson, who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, said her experience should convince voters to keep her in the seat.
“I feel like I have a record to stand on and a lot more work to do in health care, so I’m gonna work hard to make sure that I can continue that,” she said.
District 27
Rep. Marian Matthews faces a Democratic primary challenger for the northern Albuquerque District 27 seat: attorney Abby Foster, who primarily represents adults in guardianships. Jahnelle Garcia, a nurse practitioner, and Robert “Bob” Godshall, a former U.S. Border Patrol agent, are vying for the Republican nomination. Godshall has unsuccessfully run for the seat three times since 2018. Neither returned requests for comment.
Foster, who previously ran an unsuccessful bid for an Albuquerque City Council seat in 2023, cited Matthew’s votes against paid family medical leave in 2024 and 2025 as the primary reason for her challenge.
“I believe her voting behavior does not align with our district’s values,” Foster told Source NM in a call.
Matthews told Source NM her vote on paid family medical leave was a “non-issue” for her district, noting that she won a primary and general election in 2024, and defended her vote.
“As it was structured under that bill that was rejected twice by the House, kids and folks with disabilities would receive fewer benefits and less services, which is why I voted against the bill,” Matthews said.
District 30
Attorney Veronica Mireles is challenging Rep. Elizabeth Diane Torres-Velasquez for the Democratic seat for District 30, which includes a swath of Northeast Albuquerque. Mireles, who primarily is a medical malpractice attorney, said she wanted to build on her advocacy on House Bill 99, which lawmakers passed to overhaul medical malpractice amid a statewide doctor shortage.
Torres-Velasquez did not respond to a request for comment.
District 33
Democratic Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena of Las Cruces is facing a primary challenge from Ramona Jean Martinez, a lawyer who launched an unsuccessful bid for Doña Ana County district attorney in 2024.
Martinez told Source NM on Tuesday she is running because the community “deserves strong, thoughtful leadership, and I’m committed to working hard to earn the trust of voters.”
Cadena did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Tuesday evening.
District 34
Rep. Raymundo Lara (D-Chamberino) faces challenger Juan Fuentes , a former one-term city councilor for Sunland Park, for the District 34 seat in the southernmost portion of Doña Ana.
Fuentes, who was also a city manager for Truth or Consequences and internal auditor at Roswell, told Source NM he isn’t directly challenging Lara’s record, but said he hopes to offer residents his expertise with capital projects and infrastructure at the Roundhouse.
District 37
One southern New Mexico district will get a new representative. Incumbent Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces), who held the seat since 2017, will leave at the end of her term after a decade in the Legislature.
Two Democratic candidates are seeking the District 37 seat: Lori Martinez and Matilda Villalobos. The winner in the primary will face Republican candidate Isabella Solis in the general election.
Villalobos is a former federal prosecutor who told Source NM on Tuesday that she wants to ensure New Mexico gives opportunities to people like her.
“I’m running because I want everyone to have access to the opportunity that I had access to to build a safe and stable life for myself,” she said, adding that she was a teen mother.
Ferrary told Source NM she was endorsing Martinez.
District 40
Incumbent Rep. Joseph Sanchez (D-Alcalde) faces a challenge from Nancy Wright, a pediatrician.
Neither responded to Source NM’s requests for comment Tuesday evening.
District 41
Debbie Rodella is seeking a return to the Roundhouse. Rodella, who was a state representative for 25 years, is seeking the District 41 seat vacated by Rep. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo), who announced during the session she would not seek reelection. Rodella faces Yolanda “Pancha” Jaramillo, a board member for the New Mexico Acequia Association, who recently announced her Democratic campaign for the seat.
Jaramillo, her opponent, is pictured next to an acequia on her campaign website. She told Source that she wants to advocate for the historic irrigation districts at the Roundhouse, and, as a former educator, says she has ideas related to education and behavioral health.
“We need a leader who will protect our natural resources. We need a leader who will move forward and protect what’s there for us,” she said.
District 59
Stephen Dodson, whose campaign bio describes him as a technical consultant and systems administrator, filed a challenge against incumbent Rep. Mark Murphy (R-Roswell) for the District 59 seat. Murphy, the president of oil producer Strata Production Company, has only been in office since early 2025, when the Chaves County Board of Commissioners appointed him to the seat after former Rep. Jared Hembree resigned.
District 60
In District 60, which covers Rio Rancho, Republican Zac Anaya is seeking to unseat incumbent Rep. Joshua Hernandez. Anaya, a real estate agent, noted that Hernandez has voted repeatedly with majority Democrats to pass record state budgets.
Hernandez told Source he approaches his work in the Legislature collaboratively to ensure Rio Rancho residents continue to enjoy a safe and healthy community. He noted that he’s secured at least $4 million for public safety projects in his district, along with other accomplishments.
District 66
District 66 in Southeast New Mexico will see a new legislator after Rep. Jimmy Mason (R-Artesia) announced his retirement in the recent legislative session. Three Republicans jumped into the race.
Dan Lewis said his finance experience working for a local oil and gas company in the area will serve him well in the Legislature, and he’s used to staying calm with “screaming and yelling at me” as a college football coach, he told Source NM on Tuesday.
LeAnne Gandy, a longtime educator, told Source NM she’s been thinking of running “for years,” and has deep roots in the oil and gas industry. She also runs a ranch, she said.
“I really want to be the voice for Southeast New Mexico,” she said.
Trinidad Malone, an Artesia business owner, did not respond to a request for comment.
District 69
Former state representative Harry Garcia is challenging freshman Rep. Michelle Abeyta (D-Tohajilee) for District 69, which he represented for eight years before being unseated by Abeyta in the 2024 primary. Garcia also attempted to represent neighboring District 6, but was found ineligible by an Attorney General investigation into his residency.
Garcia declined to comment Tuesday, and deferred to a campaign spokesperson, who did not respond to messages for comment.
Abeyta said Tuesday she was “surprised” that Garcia was running again.
District 70
Incumbent Rep. Anita Gonzales (D-Las Vegas) faces a challenge from former state lawmaker Ambrose Castellano. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment.
