- New Mexico was caught up in what turned out to be a nearly nationwide Republican wave.
- Susana Martinez easily won reelection
- .
- Dianna Duran won reelection
- . And, oh yeah,
- the Republicans took control of the state House
- for the first time since Dwight D Eisenhower was president.
Just about all political observers agreed that there were 11 key races for control of the state House. Republicans won nine of them and took down another race that was a surprise to everyone. Welcome to a Republican wave election.
- Democratic State Rep. Lucky Varela
- spoke to New Mexico Watchdog about the results
- . Here's
- the Albuquerque Journal article on Martinez's victory
- and the
- Santa Fe New Mexican story
- .
- There were two bright spots for Democrats.
- Tom Udall won reelection
- and
- Hector Balderas won the race for AG
- with an impressive victory. Balderas may finish with the largest margin of victory for any statewide candidate. Tim Keller also won the state auditor race, while
- Tim Eichenberg won the state treasurer race
- . Not all was good for the Udall family, as Tom's cousin Mark Udall lost in Colorado.
- As for the state land commissioner race, it is super, super close. It is within 1 percent with only precincts in Santa Fe and Doña Ana County not counted. See below or why the Doña Ana numbers are not final.
- In congressional races,
- nothing was close
- . Democrats Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Luján easily won, as did Republican Steve Pearce. Pearce received the highest percentage of the vote in any of his races. This is Pearce's fifth race. Lujan Grisham's and Luján each finished with slightly lower numbers than 2012. That was Lujan Grisham's first congressional win and Luján's highest percentage.
- Marijuana advisory questions
- passed in both Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties
- . This will lead to legislation next year in Albuquerque and the state legislature. But with control of the state House likely transferring to Republicans... The mental health advisory question
- also passed in Albuquerque
- . Legislation will likely be coming in the Albuquerque city council, but the mayor's veto pen looms.
- Bernalillo County voters
- voted to support an open space tax
- .
- District Judge Sheri Raphaelson
- looks like she will not be retained by voters
- . Meanwhile, Court of Appeals Judge Miles Hanisee
- leads in his race after being appointed to the court by Martinez
- . He was previously appointed by Martinez but lost in an election to now-colleague Monica Zamora in 2012. He was appointed again and now holds a slender lead to keep his position.
- One voting cartridge was locked in Chaparral Middle School overnight, so the Doña Ana County numbers are not complete. There are 430 votes on the cartridge, so it is not expected to swing any local race. As of 2:45 am, there are still 314 precincts not fully counted. They are in Colfax, Doña Ana, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties.
- Ben Rawson was confident that he would keep his spot on the Doña Ana County Commission. Rawson is the lone Republican on the panel and was appointed by Susana Martinez. His lead remains just outside the 0.5 number that would trigger an automatic recount, at least as of 2:45 am. Three new county commissioners were elected in Lincoln County.
- Former State Rep. Ray Begaye
- lost in his race for a spot on the Navajo Nation Council
- .
- Andrea Reeb
- won the race for district attorney in the Ninth Judicial District
- . Matt Chandler resigned from the position and ended up running a super PAC that spent a lot of money on the state House.
- KOAT covers the case of Aja Riggs, a
- terminally ill woman who is suing for the right to "die with dignity."
- Gary Johnson
- told Newsmax TV that he would like to run again in 2016
- .
- Wally Gordon
- says politicians didn't talk about the issues that mattered this year
- .
- Something new legislators will get to discuss:
- the oil prices that continue to drop
- and what effect it will have on New Mexico's state budget.
A barrel of U.S. crude fell as low as $75.84 Tuesday before rebounding to $77.19, down 2% for the day and the lowest closing price since Oct. 4, 2011. West Texas Intermediate crude is now deeply in bear market territory, having tumbled nearly 30% since its June high of nearly $108 per barrel.
- Oil and gas prices drive a huge part of New Mexico's state budget.
- Amid controversy over a potential conflict of interest, the
- mayor of Portales withdrew from consideration for a position heading up a water board
- .
Santa Fe Reporter