近距离内射合集

SANTA FE 鈥� A group of New Mexico Democratic Party insiders will meet this weekend to begin the process of filling a rare ballot vacancy on their gubernatorial ticket.

The run-up to the meeting to replace Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who suspended her campaign for lieutenant governor shortly after winning a contested primary race last month, has been rife with political intrigue and scrutiny.

With Democrats facing a late August deadline to fill the ballot vacancy, the party鈥檚 roughly 500 State Central Committee members have been subject to a full-court press of sorts by candidates for the post.

State Democratic Party spokesman Daniel Garcia said state central committee members will use a ranked choice voting system to decide among four candidates for the post 鈥� Stephanie Garcia Richard, Harold Pope Jr., Geoffrey Luehring and Toni Pinedo.

Ranked choice voting, which allows voters to list their preferred candidates in order, is not used by New Mexico in statewide elections, but has been adopted by two cities 鈥� Santa Fe and Las Cruces.

Garcia Richard, the state鈥檚 outgoing land commissioner, and Pope, a two-term state senator from Albuquerque, are considered the two front-runners to fill the vacancy.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland endorsed Garcia Richard as her preferred running mate last month after an expedited vetting process.

In the run-up to this weekend鈥檚 convention, Garcia Richard has touted her support from Haaland and other Democrats, while also announcing endorsements from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and former actress Jane Fonda.

In an , Fonda lauded Garcia Richard鈥檚 record as land commissioner and touted her potential ticket with Haaland, saying, 鈥淚t鈥檚 about damn time we have two badass women leading New Mexico and protecting the state鈥檚 natural beauty for all New Mexicans.鈥� 

But the high-profile surrogates haven鈥檛 deterred Pope, who lost to Toulouse Oliver in the June primary election, from continuing to seek the nomination.

Pope has also landed the backing of some Democratic legislators and progressive groups, including the Albuquerque chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Meanwhile, Republicans have criticized the process Democrats are using to pick a new lieutenant governor candidate.

State Sen. David Gallegos, who won a three-way GOP lieutenant governor primary race, described the Democratic convention as a 鈥渂ackroom fight鈥� while arguing that ordinary New Mexico voters were being cut out of the decision-making process.

鈥淚 believe leaders should answer to the people who elected them鈥攏ot to 500 party insiders in a room in Santa Fe,鈥� Gallegos said in a statement this week.

However, Democratic officials have pointed out the process complies with state law, which requires a political party鈥檚 State Central Committee to submit the name of its chosen nominee to fill a ballot vacancy, but does not require an election to do so. The Democratic Party has used a similar approach to fill ballot vacancies in past election cycles.

Under New Mexico鈥檚 election code, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run independently in the primary election. The winners of those races who share the same party affiliation are then paired on a ticket for the general election.

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.