Process to fill vacancy at the top of the ballot raises concerns for Democratic Party members
New Mexico Sen. Harold James Pope Jr. (D-Albuquerque) is pressing forward with a campaign to become Deb Haaland’s running mate in the upcoming gubernatorial election, despite Haaland’s endorsement Friday of state Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard for the Democratic ticket.
Pope ran for lieutenant governor in the Democratic primary against Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who withdrew from the race on June 18 due to unspecified health reasons. Pope lost that race June 2 by a wide margin, earning just 20% of the vote.
But he told Source NM on Monday that his experience as part of that campaign, including visiting every county in New Mexico and meeting party officials during the pre-primary convention in March, makes him a “front runner” in what he sees as a continuation of the campaign for lieutenant governor he launched last year.
“I want to be clear: I’m not entitled to this nomination because I’m the only one left,” he told Source NM. “But I do believe that I ran a race, and I have a lot of support, and I should be able to compete, because while I didn’t win, tens of thousands of people voted for me across the state.”
On July 25, the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s State Central Committee is scheduled to vote on who should replace Toulouse Oliver on the ballot. The roughly 500 SCC members hail from every county in the state and include elected officials, as well as party officials and volunteers.
Haaland announced Friday that she had selected Garcia Richard from a list of five candidates, including Pope, state Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española), former Department of Veterans Services Secretary Sonya Smith and attorney Antonia Roybal-Mack.
Haaland’s endorsement prompted Roybal-Mack to withdraw from the race, and Jaramillo suggested in a Facebook post Monday that he was also exiting, though he did not respond to Source NM’s request for clarification. Smith also told Source NM via text message Monday that she is no longer pursuing the seat.
The deadline for aspiring lieutenant governors to apply to the Democratic Party is July 3, according to spokesperson Daniel Garcia.
Still, three members of the State Central Committee told Source NM on Monday that they anticipate the election will be between Pope and Garcia Richard, in what they all described as an unusual process that is less democratic than would be ideal.
Democratic Party of Bernalillo County Chair Jacob Trujillo, who is also an SCC member, told Source NM that he’s received more than a dozen calls from Garcia Richard supporters and several from Pope supporters in recent days.
Approximately 40% of SCC members hail from Bernalillo County, he said.
As a committee voter for the lieutenant governor spot, he is trying to stay as open-minded as possible and emphasizing to Democratic voters that the party will be united despite the upcoming election.
In doing so, he said he is seeking to allay the “nightmares of 2024” held among many Democrats, in which following former President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, former Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate without a new primary election and ultimately lost to President Donald Trump.
“Although it’s none of our ideal situations,” he said of the SCC vote, “I think a lot of us are taking a fair route, and truly treating this as a brand new campaign and really listening to folks.”
Trujillo said he is looking out for ways to make the process of filling vacancies more transparent going forward and said he expects legislation during next year’s legislation session regarding the lieutenant governor position.
He noted that many states empower gubernatorial candidates to choose their lieutenants without a separate election for lieutenant governor. According to the National Lieutenant Governors Association, the gubernatorial nominee in 21 states chooses a running mate for the general election.
Another option in these cases would be to hold entirely new elections, he said. For his part, he’d like to see the SCC expand to include more members empowered to elect candidates in such circumstances.
State Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque), an SCC member and vocal Pope supporter, told Source NM that while it is Haaland’s “prerogative” to endorse whomever she likes, she would have preferred the Democratic gubernatorial candidate to have let the SCC process play out without weighing in.
“I would have wished that the Haaland team would have just waited and had more faith in those of us on the SCC,” she said.
In an emailed statement, Felicia Salazar, Haaland’s deputy campaign manager, told Source NM in an email that Haaland “respects the role the SCC plays in this selection.”
“Deb also respects the overwhelming majority of voters who trust her to ensure working families in New Mexico have leadership that is ready to deliver lower costs, better education, safer communities, and access to healthcare where they live,” Salazar said
Despite Haaland’s endorsement for Garcia Richard, Roybal Caballero said Pope’s momentum is building and that SCC members are growing to appreciate the movement he built over the long months on the campaign.
“We’re getting a real strong sense that they are more and more aligning with the sentiment of the voters from that grassroots level, and so I really believe that I believe Harold Pope’s going to win this election at the SCC,” she said.
