State Legislature: Most incumbents keep seats, new faces still to be expected

With nearly two dozen incumbent state legislators not seeking reelection this year, it was a guarantee new faces would make it into the Roundhouse come 2025.

This year’s general election appears to have solidified that, as unofficial election results project a mix of new policymakers and incumbent legislators who will represent New Mexicans at the Roundhouse.

But some lawmakers with powerful roles could lose their spots.

Democratic Rep. Nathan Small of Las Cruces, chair of the powerful House Appropriations and Finance Committee, was lagging behind his Republican opponent, Kimberly Skaggs, in House District 36 late Tuesday evening.

And after a contentious race with a slew of allegations made, it also seems House District 38 could turn red. Republican Rebecca Dow, who formerly held the seat, was ahead in her bid to re-snag the southern New Mexico seat that incumbent Tara Jaramillo of Socorro had won in 2022.

All 112 legislative seats were on the ballot this year, though only 47 races in the general election were actually contested.

Some legislative seat changes were out of voter control. Twelve incumbent senators and eight representatives previously decided not to seek reelection.

Four of the representatives not seeking reelection didn’t want to leave the Roundhouse; they just wanted to move to the Senate — and all four were successfully projected to: Republicans James Townsend of Artesia, Candy Spence Ezzell of Roswell and Larry Scott of Hobbs and Democrat Natalie Figueroa of Albuquerque.

Another four Senate members and three House members lost their primary election races, opening up those seven seats for new policymakers.

For the most part, incumbents were projected to maintain their seats, and by fairly wide margins.

Of the 32 contested races in the House, 26 races had incumbent legislators facing challengers. Of the 15 contested races in the Senate, seven incumbent legislators faced challengers.

Jaramillo was one of the few incumbents not projected to win. Dow told the Journal when the Socorro absentee ballots came in, she felt confident about winning the House district.

“I’m humbled by the votes, and I think it’s pretty clear that the people in southern New Mexico want less government intervention,” Dow said.

Republican Samantha Barncastle Salopek was pulling ahead in a tight race against Democratic incumbent Carrie Hamblen of Las Cruces, presenting an opportunity to flip the southern New Mexico district red.

Democratic incumbent Sen. Martin Hickey of Albuquerque faced a lot of backlash this election season for a vote on a health care bill he took during the regular 2024 legislative session. Nonetheless, Hickey was posed to pull ahead to keep his District 20 seat by a safe measure Tuesday evening.

Other projected election results of note include House District 31, the only Republican-held House seat in Albuquerque. Voters were projected to keep the district red with Republican Nicole Chavez, though it was a tight race Tuesday evening against Democrat Vicky Estrada-Bustillo.

Voters had a similar political choice in Senate District 12, which, before redistricting in 2021, was a safe Democratic seat in central Albuquerque. Projections placed it red with Republican Jay Block.

And the race for House District 57 presented an open Rio Rancho seat. Unofficial results had it projected to stay in GOP control with candidate Catherine Cullen ahead in the district.

Meanwhile, voters were set to flip the southwestern Senate District 28 from Democratic to Republican control.

Democratic Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill of Silver City didn’t seek reelection this year, and Tuesday’s unofficial results placed Republican Gabriel Ramos as one of the earliest winners of the contested legislative races.

Upon taking office in January, Ramos will become one of few legislators to have changed parties. He served as a Democratic senator for District 28 from 2019 to 2020, before being ousted in a primary election.

“More than anything, I want to bring back morals to southwest New Mexico,” Ramos told the Journal Tuesday evening.

Democrats entered Election Day with a 27-15 majority in the Senate and a 45-25 margin in the House.