2024 general election ballot determined with Tuesday's primary vote results

The 2024 primary election is in the books, and the field for the Nov. 5 election in Sandoval County has been narrowed.

All 112 seats in the New Mexico Legislature are on this year’s general election ballot.

Several races required a primary election to determine who gets a spot in the general election in November.

Tuesday, those races were decided by voters.

In Sandoval County, 17,004 voters came out in to make their voices heard.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Less than 15 minutes later, early voting results were posted. After midnight, official results of the 2024 primary election were released.

Senate District 9 saw two candidates eliminated from the race Tuesday.

Republican Audrey Trujillo beat Frida Susana Vasquez 1,518 (58%) to 1,099 (42%), and Cindy Nava won the Democratic nomination over Heather Balas by a vote of 2,638 (55%) to 2,194 (45%).

Trujillo is a native New Mexican, 25-year resident of Sandoval County, small business owner, wife and mother. She ran for secretary of state in 2022 and she continues to participate and serve in her community.

“I am so honored to run for my district and unite our community. Right now, we are outnumbered in the Senate two-to-one and we don’t have fair or equal representation in Santa Fe,” Trujillo said. “Our rights are being disregarded and the peoples’ voice is not being heard. As your next senator, I will represent everyone in my district no matter who they are and bring attention to all the issues we face. I believe in our constitutional rights, transparency and fairness in our elections, preserving our unique culture and history, and making sure everyone is equally represented in our community. Serving my fellow New Mexicans has always been a priority, whether it’s at the grassroots level, local level, state level or national level.”

Nava, a Bernalillo resident, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and came to New Mexico as a child, raised between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. She is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient who has since become a citizen of the United States.

“New Mexico needs our own version of the American Dream — a state where every child gets a world-class education, everyone has a place they can call home, and every New Mexican has professional, affordable health care,” Nava said. “As someone who was undocumented, I know these building blocks must be in place to create success. I want to help build the New Mexico Dream for the families of Senate District 9.”

Senate District 9 encompasses Albuquerque’s West Side, Corrales, Placitas, Bernalillo, Algodones, Sandia Pueblo and eastern Rio Rancho.

Either Nava or Trujillo will be the new face of District 9 for the 2025 session as incumbent Sen. Brenda McKenna did not seek re-election.

In the race for District 12 of the state Senate, Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block beat former District 10 Sen. Candace Gould Tuesday to win the Republican nomination by a count of 1,917 (68%) to 906 (32%).

District 12, which is represented by retiring Democrat Jerry Ortiz Pino, was redrawn during the 2021 legislative session and goes into effect for the 2024 election. Under a new district map, it now consists of much of Rio Rancho and the Paradise Hills neighborhood in Bernalillo County.

Block won his election in a nearly identical district in 2016 when he ran for Sandoval County commissioner and won re-election in 2020.

“New Mexicans want and need a fighter in Santa Fe that will stand up for our values of God, family and freedom,” Block said. “If you know anything about me, then you know I’m not here to make friends. I’ll go head-to-head with the woke left and spineless politicians in the Roundhouse.”

Block will face Democrat Phillip Ramirez in the November election.

The House field of candidates also dwindled Tuesday with Catherine Cullen beating both Corrine Rios and John D'Antonio to win the Republican nomination in District 57.

Cullen got 522 votes (38%), Rios had 412 (30%) and D’Antonio received 458 (33 %).

Cullen, a former Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education member, plans to make health care more accessible and less expensive; bring more business to New Mexico; slow the “brain drain” — New Mexico college graduates leaving the state for better-paying jobs elsewhere — and get more “crime bills” passed.

“Mental health is an issue we’ve talked about,” Cullen said. “We do need to have more resources for mental health, and we need to be able to fund these.”

Cullen will face Michelle Sandoval for the District 57 seat, which is open because six-term state Rep. Jason Harper opted not to run again, in November.

District 57 encompasses Enchanted Hills, Mariposa, Northern Meadows, North Hills, Mountain Hawk and Cleveland Heights neighborhoods.

Other Sandoval County-related results from the June 4 primary election:

• Steve Jones (16,835, 51%) edged out Louie Sanchez (15,919, 49%) to win the Republican spot for the District 1 U.S. Representative race. Jones will face incumbent Melanie Stansbury in November.

• Kenneth Brennan (985, 60%) beat Wendy Lossing (664, 40%) to win the Republican race for the District 50 state House of Representatives in general election. Brennan will face incumbent Matthew McQueen in November.

• Susan Herrera (2,390, 63%) beat fellow Democrat Margaret Campos (1,375, 37%) to win the House District 41 spot. No Republicans are running for the seat.

• Chris Luchini needed only 17 votes to top Phillip Mach (12 votes) for the District 43 House Republican nomination. Mach will face Democrat Christine Chandler in November.

• Both preesidential candidates had already received their respective party’s nomination, and each had a good showing in New Mexico Tuesday.

President Joe Biden received 110,063 votes while Marianne Williamson got 8,874 and 12,849 were uncommitted.

Former President Donald Trump topped Chris Christie, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy with 78,716 votes.