See who is running for NM Senate in first election since redistricting shake-up • Source New Mexico

Last week, 82 candidates signed up to vie for a New Mexico Senate seat for the first statewide election since redistricting scrambled the Legislature’s district maps two years ago.

The once-a-decade redistricting process created two new open Senate seats, and several incumbents chose not to seek re-election. Eight of the 42 Senate districts have no incumbents running. 

Moving around district boundaries also changed the party makeup of some districts, according to a Source New Mexico analysis of Secretary of State and legislative data. Some of those changes were significant; in four districts, the share of registered Democratic or Republican voters increased by more than 5% after redistricting. 

The biggest partisan shift was in District 12, which outgoing Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, a Democrat, held for 20 years. The district that was once in the heart of Albuquerque shifted north to include parts of West Side and Rio Rancho. 

In December 2021, as lawmakers were debating the new Senate boundaries, 59% of District 12 residents were Democrats. Republicans comprised less than 14% of registered voters. Now, after redistricting, it’s 38% Democrats and 37% Republicans. 

Republicans Jay Block and Candace Thompson Gould are running for the new Senate District 23 seat, along with Democrat Phillip Ramirez. 

At the moment, Democrats have 27 seats in the Senate, and Republicans have 15. 

Changes to Senate district maps were also a factor in the resignation of a Republican party leader. 

Redistricting shifted the boundaries of District 29, currently represented by Sen. Greg Baca (R-Belen) to include the Veguita home of Sen. Josh Sanchez, who represents District 30. 

Instead of “allow(ing) the radical left to pit brother against brother,” Baca said in a statement, he opted not to run for re-election and encouraged his supporters to vote for Sanchez.. 

To find out what district you live in, click here. 

See maps below to see who is running for state Senate this year and how redistricting changed the partisan makeup of each district. 

You can also see the redistricting changes in the House below: