Donald Trump apparently won a second term as President of the United States on Tuesday night, but the majority of New Mexico voters rejected the fear-mongering campaign that got him back into The White House.
Trump repeatedly claimed throughout the election he would flip New Mexico, whose residents also voted blue in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. He visited New Mexico Oct. 31 in a private airport hangar near the Albuquerque International Sunport.
Yet for the second time since 2016, the six-times bankrupt billionaire defeated a Democratic candidate seeking to become the first woman elected president. As of press time, Trump had captured 267 electoral votes to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 214 votes.
By the time returns were fully in, Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz won New Mexico with 52 percent of votes—or 461,634 votes. In Santa Fe County, she garnered 73 percent of 81,165 votes.
While Santa Fe voters backed Harris by a wide margin, Trump wasn’t without local support.
Frederick Marshall Ryals voted for Trump at Chaparral Elementary around 4 pm on Election Day. He tells SFR he voted for the person “best suited to protect our country in the best ways possible,” but said he didn’t believe there was a “best choice” on the ballot and would like to see a third-party candidate “that will be in between everything and show everybody what America really is,” but that person did not exist yet in his opinion.
“Obviously [Trump has] been in there. We know how he is. We know what might happen to the country, but we also know that other countries won’t mess with us if Trump’s in the presidency. He’s erratic, he’s a little looney—not to say he’s the best suited either for the position, but since we usually talk about Harris versus Trump, Trump is the better vote if you want to keep America safe,” Ryals says. “We just don’t think about the way the rest of the country works. You have to remember that a lot of other cultures look at certain people and genders in a different way and will take advantage of that any way possible, which is sad.”
Evan Chandler
A Donald Trump supporter, who asked to remain anonymous, holds two signs near the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds.
Another woman holding a “Make America Great Again Trump 2024” sign and a second handmade one referring to Harris as “Que Mala” told SFR she did not want to be identified because she believed the local Democratic Party was “extreme, violent and intolerant” and added she did not want to lose her job.
As she spoke to SFR, a motorist drove by, rolled down their window and yelled expletives at the woman before driving away.
“I’m surprised nobody’s trying to harm me—like hitting me with their car—but I have gotten mainly that kind of violent rhetoric,” the woman said. “I’m just hoping that [Trump will] win tonight. I haven’t looked at the statistics, but I know polling closes at 7 pm, so I was gonna be out here until then. I wanted people to know you have a voice. Even if you’re a minority, you still have a voice.”
Heavy backing for Harris was no surprise as New Mexico voters chose Democratic candidates almost exclusively.
Adrielle McCollum voted early in the morning at Atalaya Elementary and told SFR she voted Democrat “basically across the board.”
“I just think that it’s my right as an American, but also my duty as a woman to not vote Republican this year,” McCollum says. “They’re trying to take away rights that have been established for a very long time, and I don’t think that’s right.”
Evan Chandler
Poll worker Ellen Rosell helps Jimmy Camacho register to vote for the first time in a presidential election at Atalaya Elementary.
Daniel Andreina also came to the elementary school to vote “blue all the way down the ballot,” he told SFR.
“Unfortunately, you have to pick sides a little bit…I’m not a fascist,” he said. “There’s a lot of concern and valid fear I believe about the sort of upholding of democracy, the Project 2025, the direction this country is going, if we’re going to be polarized, I might as well pick the side that is going to be a little bit less destructive internally and internationally.”
On the other side of town at the La Tierra Fire Station, Barbara Tysun told SFR she voted for Harris “because of women’s rights, and because I can’t stand the other guy.”
New Mexicans had a handful of options to choose from for the presidential election: Democrats Harris and Walz; Republican candidates Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance; Libertarians Chase Oliver and Mike Ter Maat; the Green Party’s Jill Stein and Rudolph Ware; and the Party of Socialism and Liberation’s Claudia de la Cruz and Karina Garcia.
Here’s a breakdown of who and what was on the ballot and how New Mexicans—and more specifically Santa Feans—responded.
MUNICIPAL, COUNTY and STATE ELECTIONS AND ISSUES
Voters selected two new additions to the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners during the 2024 primary election. Educator and community activist Lisa Cacari Stone will fill the District 2 seat—which covers the Agua Fria village and slice of Las Campanas—while Old Santa Fe Association Executive Director Adam Fulton Johnson will take the District 4 seat covering most of east side Santa Fe all the way to Glorieta. Each ran uncontested in the general election, capturing 10,511 and 14,358 votes, respectively. The pair will replace termed-out District 2 and District 4 Commissioners Anna Hansen and Anna Hamilton. District 5 County Commissioner and Chair Hank Hughes also ran uncontested for re-election and captured 14,274 votes.
Santa Fe County Clerk Katharine Clark ran uncontested after defeating her predecessor Geraldine Salazar in the primary. Clark snagged 60,751 votes in the general election.
On the judicial side, Santa Fe Magistrate Judge Melissa Mascareñas won her bid for the seat in the primary against incumbent Morgan Wood. She ran uncontested and captured 59,758 votes in the general election. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Wood to the role following former Magistrate Judge Dev Atma Khalsa’s DWI arrest and subsequent resignation from the position, but Wood—by law—had to be elected to remain as the judge.
First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies—who represents Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties—ran uncontested for re-election and captured 58,385 votes after defeating her predecessor Marco Serna in the primary election.
Primary races also decided several state Senate and House seats, as no Republican challengers made a bid in the general election. On the Senate side, former Rep. Linda Trujillo ran uncontested after a three-way primary race and received 17,839 votes to fill Sen. Nancy Rodriguez’s District 24 seat in the general election after Rodriguez announced she would not seek re-election for the seat at the end of the 2024 legislative session. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth ran uncontested for re-election and captured 27,441 votes. State House Reps. Linda Serrato, Andrea Romero, Reena Szczepanski and Tara Lujan all ran uncontested for re-election in their respective seats as well.
Evan Chandler
Voters cast their ballots at the Southside Library.
BONDS
Voters responded to several bond questions at the municipal, county and state levels. Four bond issues appeared on the Nov. 5 ballot for every New Mexican. Voters approved all the bond questions. The first, which issues $30,758,100 in bonds to fund senior citizens facilities, passed with 78 percent of voter support. When asked whether or not to send $19,305,000 in bonds to fund public libraries, 77 percent of voters said yes. They also supported $230,258,400 in bonds to fund public higher education institutions, special public schools and tribal schools. Finally, voters approved sending $10,297,100 in bonds to modernize public safety radio communications systems.
At the county level, residents decided whether to issue three bonds payable through general taxes. Voters supported all three. The issuance of a $4.9 million bond to acquire, construct and improve roads passed with 85 percent of the vote. County residents also supported a $12.5 million bond for water and wastewater projects with 82-percent approval. Finally, county voters said yes to a $16.1 million bond to construct and restore parks and open space with 80 percent of votes in favor.
City residents overwhelmingly came out in favor of a $25 million municipal bond repaid by property taxes to improve roads. After passing with 84 percent support, the money will go toward more than 50 road improvement projects across the city, including repaving Airport Road from Cerrillos Road to 599. In addition to addressing major roads in all four City Council districts, with 10% “set aside” for streets projects in smaller neighborhoods. Those specific projects have yet to be identified. A fiscal impact report on the bond estimates an annual $25 property tax increase for 20 years on homes with a market value of at least $500,000.
Laura Griffin came to the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds to vote in favor of the city road bond just before polls closed on election night. She tells SFR improvements to “pothole-filled roads” are needed.
“I definitely voted ‘yes,’” Griffin says. “There are potholes everywhere, and then my car gets damaged, and it costs money, and you have to get new tires or the alignment gets off.”
Mayor Alan Webber issued a statement as returns came in showing overwhelming support for the bond.
“Santa Fe residents told us they wanted better streets and roads, and their vote on our $25 million bond issue will help make that happen,” Webber said. “Every district in the city will see improvements on main roads and in neighborhoods, most of it in the next three years. I’m very grateful for this vote and eager to get to work on these projects.”
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Voters statewide answered four constitutional amendment questions, approving all of them. New Mexicans voted in favor of extending a property tax exemption to veterans with less than a 100% federal disability rating and their widows and an increase to the benefit altogether, with 83 percent. and 72 percent voter support, respectively. The University of New Mexico School of Law’s dean will now be able to appoint a designee to the judicial nominating commission, after 52 perrcent of voters approved the proposed amendment. Finally, when asked if the respective Board of County Commissioners would establish county officials’ salaries, 66% of voters said yes.
US SENATE AND HOUSE
Incumbent Sen. Martin Heinrich defeated Republican challenger Nella Louise Domenici—a first-time candidate for public office—in a heated race, snagging 55 percent of the vote.
Heinrich and Domenici have traded blows throughout the election within advertisements and in debates. Domenici criticized Heinrich on the southern border, saying he failed New Mexicans and allowed illegal drugs to enter the United States. Heinrich has called Domenici a wealthy outsider and released advertisements centered on reproductive rights and other issues. According to the Federal Election Commission, Heinrich raised over $12 million for the race by Oct. 16, whereas Domenici raised just short of $6 million in the same time period.
Heinrich has held the Senate seat since 2013, and before that, he represented New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District in the US House of Representatives between 2009 and 2013.
For youth voter Melanie Menendez, a first-time voter who came to Southside Library on Election Day, women’s rights made her vote for Heinrich and other Democrats, she tells SFR.
“Without hesitation I marked my answers and just decided to come out and step up for women and step up for the people that can’t vote,” Menendez says.
Democrats also retained seats in the US House: incumbent Rep. Melanie Ann Stansbury defeated Republican Steve Jones with 56 percent of the vote, while incumbent Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez fought off a challenge from Republican Sharon E. Clahchischilliage, capturing 56 percent of the vote. As of Oct. 16, Leger Fernandez had raised just over $2 million, while Clahchischilliage raised $78,000.
Courtesy Facebook
Though Stansbury won the overall state vote, those in Santa Fe County overwhelmingly supported Jones. He earned 65 percent of 5,528 voters.
Stansbury outraised Jones, according to the Federal Election Commission, by about $1.1 million as of Oct. 16.
SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION INCIDENTS
Observe New Mexico Elections, a nonpartisan observation effort dedicated to increasing trust and transparency in elections, had 170 certified election observers in 153 voting locations in 29 of the state’s 33 counties. By 7 pm, the organization reported the voting process “functioned well” statewide, but noted various technical difficulties in counties including Santa Fe.
Election observers saw issues with the statewide voter registration system, including some same-day voter registration problems that resulted in “voting delays in many locations and some voters leaving without casting a ballot.” The issue affected Santa Fe and at least 14 other counties.
Wait lines to vote varied from 10 minutes to two hours, observers said, and voters in some locations “were reportedly told to come back later in the day to ato a different location, such as the county clerk’s office.” In one location, observers said voters were told to wait outside for a phone call that told them to enter to register to vote.
At the start of the day, an observer reported that one polling location in Santa Fe saw a minor equipment set up delay, “however this did not significantly disrupt the voting process in any location,” the organization said.
COUNTIES WITH SAME-DAY REGISTRATION TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Bernalillo, Curry, Doña Ana, Eddy, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra and Union
All election results in New Mexico remain unofficial until all 33 counties finish their canvass process and the State Canvass Board convenes to certify the official results and order any recounts. The State Canvass Board will convene on Nov. 26.
