Democrats retain hold on New Mexico despite shifting support for Republicans

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Democrats in New Mexico maintained political control over the state with the reelection of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and Congressman Gabe Vasquez in a House swing district, but support for President-elect Donald Trump expanded as Republicans captured more legislative seats, reflecting a shift of voter sentiments.

Democratic presidential candidates have won seven of the last eight general elections in New Mexico, but results from Tuesday’s election show that the state followed similar gains made by Trump nationwide.

Trump — who lost New Mexico by about 8 percentage points in 2016 and nearly 11 percentage points in 2020 — cut into that deficit, and did so in historically Democratic counties as well as Republican strongholds, according to unofficial results from The Associated Press.

“That is a breakthrough for the Republicans at the presidential level,” said New Mexico-based political columnist Joe Monahan as ballots were being tallied. “Where did those votes come from?"

With about 98% of the vote counted in New Mexico, the former president gained support in all but three of New Mexico’s 33 counties in Tuesday’s election when compared to 2020. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, received a majority of Tuesday’s votes in 13 New Mexico counties.

Trump traveled to New Mexico on Oct. 31 to hold a rally in the campaign’s final days, taking a risky detour from the seven battleground states to court Latino voters. New Mexico has the highest percentage of Latino voters in the nation. Harris didn't visit the state after her nomination for president.

Isaiah Blas, 25, waited in line for hours last month to see Trump in Albuquerque. He pointed to the sea of people in red “Make America Great Again” hats around him, saying it was a sign that the trajectory of politics could change in the state.

“I think a lot of New Mexicans are getting tired of these Democrats saying that they’re going to do it and they don’t do anything for New Mexicans," Blas said, pointing to the state's persistent and dismal rankings nationwide for crime rates and educational outcomes. "We’re just sick of it because we have Democrat after Democrat after Democrat. Are we getting better? No.”

The shift toward voting for Trump played out in Democratic-dominated cities along the Rio Grande corridor including Doña Ana, Santa Fe and Bernalillo counties.

At the same time, Republican legislative candidates picked up at least one seat in the state House and two in the state Senate — staving off the possibility of a Democratic supermajority.

Democrats lost control of a newly redistricted state Senate seat to a Republican candidate who backed Trump’s failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block of Rio Rancho won that seat after 2022, when he voted twice against certifying local election results while stoking doubts about election integrity.

Meanwhile in southwestern New Mexico, Republican Gabriel Ramos of Silver City won a Senate seat vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill.

Ramos previously held the seat as a Democrat and was ousted in the 2020 primary after voting against a bill to repeal a 1969 New Mexico law that criminalized abortion. The bill later passed, ensuring statewide access to abortion after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade.

Additionally, Republican Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences unseated a Democrat to return to the state House after unsuccessfully seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2018.

One state House and one state Senate race were too tight to call — the state's only undecided legislative races.

Democrats still control every statewide office in New Mexico, all three U.S. House seats and the state Supreme Court.

And unofficial results from the AP showed Heinrich winning by roughly 10 percentage points over Republican Nella Domenici, the daughter of longtime U.S. Sen. Pete V. Domenici — in her first bid for public office.

Vasquez won reelection in New Mexico’s swing district along the U.S.-Mexico border, in a close-fought rematch against Republican Yvette Herrell, who he ousted in 2022.

Herrell waged her fourth consecutive campaign for Congress in the majority-Latino district that stretches from the border to Albuquerque.

Vasquez, a former Las Cruces city councilor, invoked his knowledge of the border region and its economy as the U.S.-born son of immigrants from Mexico.

After winning Tuesday night, he vowed to serve local constituents “no matter how they voted,” in a celebratory statement in English and Spanish.

“We can do it, we did it and now, we return to work. Long live the Second District,” Vasquez wrote in Spanish. ___

Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico.