Beginning Saturday, roughly 500 Democratic Party of New Mexico members will begin casting ballots to replace Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver as the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor in the Nov. 3 general election.
Toulouse Oliver dropped out of the race June 18 citing health reasons shortly after handily winning the June 2 primary election against State Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque). In the month since, candidates waged a mini-campaign targeted at members of the Democratic Party’s State Central Committee, composed of party insiders that members elect at the county level.
Four candidates — Pope, Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard, Geoffrey Luehring and Toni Pinedo — have jumped in to replace Toulouse Oliver, though Pope and Garcia Richard have done the most campaigning. Haaland endorsed Garcia Richard as her running mate.
Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia said the virtual meeting Saturday will be brief, featuring short closing statements from candidates and other administrative matters, before voting begins via a secure, online ballot system.
The voting portal will remain open until 5 p.m. on July 29. Results are expected to be announced July 30, Garcia said.
Unlike statewide elections open to all registered voters, the SCC election will be determined through a ranked-choice vote. That means that Democrats will rank the candidates in order of their preference. A candidate who garners more than 50% of SCC members’ first-place rankings wins automatically, Garcia said.
If no candidate meets that 50% threshold, whichever candidate has the highest “ranked score” wins, according to party rules. That score awards points on a scale from four to one — four points for a first-place ranking to one point for a fourth-place ranking — and the candidate with the highest tally wins the race.
Also unlike regular elections, the ballots are not secret. Candidates and SCC members can request access after the election to voting records showing how individual SCC members voted, Garcia said.
Both Garcia Richard and Pope enter the final day of the race with prominent endorsements. The Albuquerque and Santa Fe chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America, along with a number of fellow lawmakers and progressive groups, have endorsed Pope.
Pope did not immediately respond to Source NM’s request for comment Friday regarding the campaign’s final stretch. But he recently told Source NM that he believes the endorsements from the DSA, as well as various Democratic caucuses, show he has the grassroots support he needs to win a majority of SCC voters.
In addition to earning Haaland’s endorsement, Garcia Richard boasts the endorsements of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.)
Garcia Richard told Source NM on Friday that she is “confident” the SCC voters will elect her given her record across two terms overseeing the State Land Office. She said she will also emphasize Haaland’s endorsement when she makes her closing statement Saturday.
“The governor really does kind of control the impact that the lieutenant governor can have, and I have that trust,” she said. “I have Deb’s trust.”
