Candidates file for 2026 election

SANDOVAL COUNTY — Candidates have filed and the general 2026 election is just around the corner.

Early voting for the 2026 primary will take place from May 16-30. Day of primary voting will be June 2 and the general election will be Nov. 3.

Filing day, which also happened to be Sandoval County’s founding day, March 10 was steady with filers, according to Clerk Ann Brady Romero and Deputy Clerk Joey Dominguez.  

“It was a little bit busy here in the morning, but we try to make it as best as we can because this is an important day,” Brady-Romero said.

The county got 30 filers total, with some familiar faces and numerous new faces.

Of all the seats up for election, House of Representatives District 65 and the Magistrate Judges are unopposed. A few will get a primary, but most have one candidate from each party. The incumbents for districts 1 and 3 on the Sandoval County commission have termed out.

Additionally, five new people have declared candidacy for the Sandoval County Sheriff position. Sheriff  Jesse James Casaus did not declare candidacy due to term limits on Sheriffs in New Mexico.

The current probate judge did not seek reelection either.

Dominguez noted that the mix of people filing will keep the election balanced when it comes to voting. Additionally, all filers had an understanding of qualifications and required documents, according to the deputy county clerk.

Brady-Romero added that candidates were complimentary of the staff working filing day.

“They are just so good. We've gotten a lot of compliments on our staff. How in the election process they just go above and beyond at all times. There's not a day that we cannot depend on our staff to do what they do,” she said.

Compliments were also directed towards the efficiency of the day, according to the clerk.

“As a courtesy, we don't want to turn people away who want to run for office. It's already stressful, so if we can make it a little easier, that's our goal,” Dominguez added.

To make the process smooth for candidates, the clerks added courtesy stations and allowed necessary documents to be handled on-site. But Brady-Romero attributed the efficiency to the current staff, which includes new or recently filled positions they didn’t have in previous years.

“And while we, in my opinion, are understaffed, they just take the ball and run,” she said.

By the clerk’s numbers, there are not enough staff for the population of voters in the county. According to Dominguez, the county has about 117,000 registered voters, of which 3,000 just registered this election cycle.

As always, Brady-Romero and Dominguez are working hard to encourage people to get out and vote.

“People, please come and vote. Because if you don't vote, you don't have a say, you just don't have a say. There's no reason for you to complain about anything or compliment anything if you're not part of that process,” Brady-Romero said.

Dominguez noted that they are expecting a record vote count for the primary this year.

“We have primary elections open right now,” he said.

Voters can “decline to select” or in other words, choose a primary ballot. This does not mean voters have to declare a party. Rather, they will be able to vote openly in either party’s primary, according to Dominguez. By the clerk’s numbers, about 30,000 voters have declined to select voters.

“So it's basically like we're adding another political party in to participate in a primary election,” Dominguez said.

Sandoval County Filers

House of Representatives District 23

Incumbent Alan Martinez (R)

Elise Taylor (D)

House of Representatives District 44

Incumbent Kathleen Cates (D)

Raul Vigil (R)

House of Representatives District 57

Incumbent Catherine Cullen (R)

Chriselle Martinez (D)

House of Representatives District 60 (Primaried)

Incumbent Josh Hernandez (R)

Zachary Anaya (R)

Luke Jungmann (D)

House of Representatives District 65

Derrick Lente

County Commission District 1

John Sapien (D)

Paul Madrid (D)

Rebecca Skartwed (R)

County Commission District 3

Frank Smith Jr. (D)

Dan Stoddard (R)

Edwin Linson (R)

Sheriff (Primaried)

John Trujillo (D)

Martin Arellano (D)

Jose Gonzales Jr. (D)

Victor Rodriguez (R)

Alvin Miller (R)

Magistrate Judge

Division 1 Ann Maxwell-Chavez

Division 2 F Kenneth Eichwald

Division 3 Delilah Montano-Baca

Assessor (Primaried)

Gerred Prairie (D)

Richard Shanks (R)

Lawrence Griego (R)

Probate Judge

Linda Gallegos (D)

Donna Tillman (D)

Rebecca Torres (R)

For more information, visit sos.nm.gov or the Sandoval County Bureau of Elections website.