NEWS
Vote recounts ordered in four tightly contested New Mexico primary races
Official vote turnout was 24.6% for state's first election under new semi-open primary system
Published
SANTA FE 鈥� New Mexico officials have closed the books on this year鈥檚 primary election cycle 鈥� with the exception of a few hotly contested races.
The State Canvassing Board certified the results of the June 2 election on Tuesday, while ordering recounts that featured narrow enough vote margins to trigger an automatic recount under state law.
Those races include a three-way Republican primary contest for the state House District 66 seat currently held by Rep. Jimmy Mason, R-Artesia, who is one of six incumbent lawmakers not seeking reelection. The two top vote-getters in the race 鈥� Leanne Gandy and Dan Lewis 鈥� were separated by just eight votes after the initial round of vote-counting.
The three other recounts are: A race for Taos magistrate judge, a McKinley County Commission contest and a Cibola County probate judge race. All three of those contests featured Democratic candidates.
The vote recounting will begin next week, and the State Canvassing Board will meet to certify the results in the four races once the process is complete, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State鈥檚 Office said Wednesday.
Under New Mexico law, automatic vote recounts are triggered when the margin between the two top vote-getters in a race is particularly close. The specific margin varies by the office sought.
In all, 346,460 voters around New Mexico cast ballots in this year鈥檚 primary election 鈥� an increase of nearly 112,000 voters from the 2024 primary election, according to official results.
However, the overall turnout percentage of 24.6% was only slightly higher than the turnout rate from two years ago. That's because the overall pool of eligible voters was significantly larger this year due to the implementation of a semi-open primary system that allowed independent voters to cast ballots without having to select a party affiliation.
More than 38,000 independent voters ended up voting in the primary election 鈥� or about 10% of the total number of registered independent voters statewide.
Under New Mexico鈥檚 election code, initial vote tallies are reviewed by county clerks and then certified by county canvassing boards. Those results are then further scrutinized by the Secretary of State鈥檚 Office before being approved by the state canvassing board.
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who recently announced her decision to suspend her campaign for lieutenant governor, lauded the integrity of this year鈥檚 primary election.
鈥淭ogether, we not only had a great election, but we also successfully transitioned to a semi-open primary and piloted modernization efforts to same-day voter registration and the write-in tabulation process,鈥� Toulouse Oliver said in a statement.
The three-member State Canvassing Board includes the secretary of state, the governor and the chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
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.
