NEWS
All independent and minor party candidates for statewide office fall short of qualifying for ballot
Secretary of State's Office says all eight candidates disqualified due to signature requirement
Published
Modified
SANTA FE 鈥� A total of eight independent and minor party candidates filed to run last week for statewide office in New Mexico鈥檚 general election.
But none of those eight candidates will appear on the November ballot after being disqualified this week by Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver鈥檚 office.
A Secretary of State鈥檚 Office spokeswoman confirmed all eight of the candidates 鈥� including four independents who filed to run for governor 鈥� were disqualified for not submitting the minimum number of voter signatures stipulated by state law.
The list of disqualified gubernatorial candidates includes former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima, who recently filed a lawsuit challenging the state鈥檚 voter signature requirements.
While a state district court judge in Santa Fe declined to issue an immediate order relaxing the ballot access requirements, Miyagishima鈥檚 lawyer has said he plans to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the disqualifications could reignite a simmering debate over whether New Mexico鈥檚 ballot access requirements for independents and minor party candidates seeking statewide office are too daunting.
Under New Mexico鈥檚 election code, independents running for governor or another statewide office this year must submit more than five times the number of valid signatures as either Democratic or Republican candidates.
While independents running for office face a requirement of at least 14,200 verified voter signatures, Democratic candidates for governor this year were required to submit at least 2,505 signatures to preliminarily qualify for the primary ballot. Republicans were required to file at least 2,351 valid signatures 鈥� or 2% of the votes cast in their party's last gubernatorial primary.
Former state Sen. Jacob Candelaria, who represented Miyagishima in his ballot access lawsuit, recently described the statutory requirements as state-sanctioned discrimination.
鈥淧olitical parties are a canker sore to our society,鈥� Candelaria also said.
While all independent and minor party candidates seeking to run for statewide office this year were disqualified from the ballot, some such candidates are set to appear on the ballot for other offices.
That includes two independents running for state House seats 鈥� Zachary Withers in House District 22 and Grace Nagamine in House District 51 鈥� and others running for county-level positions.
In addition, two Forward Party candidates qualified for the ballot in the party鈥檚 first election cycle since qualifying for minor party status 鈥� Dennis Dinge for a Public Education Commission seat and Harry Montoya for a Santa Fe Magistrate Court judgeship.
But the party鈥檚 two candidates for statewide office 鈥� Bob Perls for U.S. Senate and Michael Vigil for state auditor 鈥� were both disqualified for falling short of the state鈥檚 signature requirement.
Perls, a former state legislator, acknowledged last week he would likely not meet the requirement, but said he had reached out to state lawmakers about possible changes to the state鈥檚 ballot access laws.
There are currently no independents who hold statewide office or legislative seats in New Mexico, even though independents 鈥� or those who decline to state a party affiliation 鈥� now make up more than 26% of the state鈥檚 1.4 million registered voters.
Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.
