Republican voters may have one less candidate to choose from on their June primary ballot after one candidate failed to show up to file paperwork confirming his eligibility for the primary ballot.
State Senator Steve Lanier, a first-term legislator from San Juan County, and Duke Rodriguez, a former health department secretary and cannabis business owner, both failed to earn an automatic placement on the ballot provided to candidates who earn at least 20% of party delegate votes at the Pre-Primary Convention held earlier this month. Lanier pulled in just 7% and Rodriguez earned 9%.
State Sen. Steve Lanier appeared for initial candidate filing day on Feb. 3. He missed the secondary filing day on Mar. 17. (Source: Lanier campaign FB)
But both candidates appeared to have secured enough signatures from Republican voters to qualify outside of the party’s delegate process, provided they submitted those signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday.
Advertisement
Lanier told The Santa Fe New Mexican that he missed the deadline and would now explore legal options to get on the ballot. “We are looking at legal options and may file a challenge, given that we filed with all the necessary signatures from the start,” he said. “I am committed to helping New Mexico thrive, and to building our Republican Party in every corner of the state.”
Rodriguez submitted the required additional signatures which are being reviewed by the secretary of state for qualification.
Share this story and start a conversation
Related
Advertisement
Pat Davis is the founder and publisher of nm.news. In a prior life he served as an Albuquerque City Councilor.
More by Pat Davis
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Laguna Pueblo woman is the front runner to be New Mexico’s next governor.
Shortly after polls closed Tuesday night, Deb Haaland was declared the winner over Bernalillo County district attorney Sam Bregman in the state’s semi-open Democratic Party primary. As of 11:00 p.m., Haaland carried support from 72% of the Democratic primary voters to Bregman’s 28%, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
“We’re showing everyone that a better future in New Mexico is possible,” she told supporters gathered in Albuquerque’s historic Old Town Plaza. “New Mexicans want a leader who will stand up for working people, and who is ready to take on Donald Trump. I proudly accept your nomination as a Democratic nominee.”
Haaland spoke for 13 minutes, at times through a scratchy throat that required her to pause for water breaks. “Excuse me, I’ve been talking with voters all day,” she said while grabbing a water bottle before hitting her campaign stump notes on affordability, health care and public safety.
Advertisement
Supporters wait for Deb Haaland at her Democratic Party Primary victory celebration in Albuquerque, NM on June 2, 2026. Credit: Shaun Griswold / Native News Online
She will face Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor from suburban Rio Rancho that won his party’s three-way primary with 47% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
Haaland will be the Democratic Party nominee in a state dominated at every level by Democrats, and is expected to be heavily favored in the general election. With that insight she said her campaign message does translate to Republicans and Independent voters.
“We want our kids to thrive. We want our kids to have a quality, public education. We want every New Mexican to have health care. Everybody wants to feel safe in their neighborhoods, and everybody wants to be able to afford to put a hot meal on their table every night and have a roof over their children’s heads,” she said. “Those issues transcend whatever political spectrum we’re trying to slice and dice people into.”
Shortly after the race was called, Haaland campaign staff, major donors, surrogates, and their families walked from a building on the west side of Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza to the historic plaza core, where the Haaland campaign had set up a stage and reserved the entire plaza for its victory celebration.
“We are now witnessing history in the making,” New Mexico state Rep. Derrick Lente (Sandia Pueblo) said to supporters immediately after Haaland was declared the winner.
Advertisement
Denise Wilie (Dine) also joined the celebration of Haaland’s victory. Wilie said she worked on get-out-the-vote efforts with the Native American Voters Alliance in McKinley County.
“It just is so exhilarating to even think about, a woman and a Pueblo woman,” she said. “Indigenous all the way, is how I feel. I’m like, yes, let’s get more of our voices.”
Haaland was introduced by her two sisters and walked to the stage escorted by a mariachi band.
Speaking to reporters after the event Haaland reflected on voting for a Pueblo woman (herself) for governor.
“I got emotional, quite frankly, when I went to vote for myself because you do that when you’re a candidate,” she said. “We’ve never had a Native American governor in New Mexico. We’re a multicultural state. I think representation matters, especially in a political era such as this one. So, I’m really proud and honored to carry on the legacy of my ancestors, who worked so incredibly hard to make sure that I had a place here today.”
(KVIA) — Tuesday, New Mexico voters will decide who will move on to the November general election through the state’s first semi-open primary. Semi-open primary elections allow voters who aren’t affiliated with a qualified political party to vote without changing their voter registration. You can find out who’s on your ballot here. Polls close at
