On Wednesday, November 4, political commentator Joe Monahan on his political blog “New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan”, posted a short, but excellent article summarizing the final outcome of the 2020 New Mexico general election results in those various elections throughout the state he was able to call. Below is an excerpt from New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan followed by raw result numbers:
“A BLUE WAVE MEETS A RED RIPPLE: EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE IN SPLIT RESULTS; DEM LANDSLIDE IN CITIES AND RED RURAL MUSCLE
The Blue Wave met the Red Ripple in New Mexico Tuesday night giving everyone something to celebrate. The wave swept down La Bajada from Santa Fe and into the ABQ metro, knocking off three GOP Bernalillo County state Senators and leaving only one R standing in the metro.
The wave also knocked the wind out of President Trump handing him a 61 to 37 defeat in BernCo but the blow was softened by the rural Red Ripple and he ended up losing the state and its five electoral votes 54 to 44 percent.
If only Dem US Senate candidate Ben Ray Lujan could have had that margin against Republican newcomer Mark Ronchetti who was trounced in BernCo by Lujan by 50,000 votes or 57 to 41% but the red rural voters helped him pick up some of the slack and Ronchetti outpaced Trump and he ended the night by keeping Lujan to a somewhat modest 51 to 46 margin with the Libertarian candidate taking 3 percent.
The surprise of the night was the overall weakness of Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. The race was expected to be a squeaker but Republican Yvette Herrell prevailed by a healthy 54 to 46 margin. Trump’s dominant performance in the southern congressional district, combined with resistance to state Covid restrictions, were pointed out as reasons for the early end of Torres Small’s congressional career. There was also this from longtime analyst Greg Payne:
She tried to be all things to all people and ended up nothing to everyone.
That meant she barely threw a bone to the progressive Dems in the district, gambling on R’s splitting their tickets. They didn’t and the progressives were unenthused with her conservative pivot and it showed in her lack of muscle in Dona Ana County.
House Speaker Brian Egolf was among many Dems who said that while Torres Small lost her rematch with Herrell she remains a Dem bright light and will be seen again. Meanwhile, Herrell now is the de facto leader of the forlorn and shrunken NM Republican Party. Can she help rebuild it or will she be a one term wonder, falling to victim to Democratic redistricting in 2021?
TURNOUT
As promoted, Election 2020 was a turnout record-breaker At 1:30 a.m. today the SOS had recorded about 912,000 votes, eclipsing the previous turnout record of 833,000 of 2012.The turnout was 67.5 percent of registered voters. That fell short of the record of 70.4 percent set in 2008.
TALL NORTHERN WAVE
The Blue Wave was ten feet tall in the northern congressional district and gave Dem Teresa Leger Fernandez an easy 58 to 42 win for the seat being left vacant by Rep. Lujan. In the ABQ district Rep. Deb Haaland had no trouble handling R Michelle Garcia Holmes, winning her second term with the same margin TLF scored–58 to 42 percent. Because of Leger’s win the state’s five member congressional delegation will for the first time be all women.
While the Dems flipped three BernCo Senate seats, Neomi Martinez Parra could not keep the seat of Deming Senator John Arthur Smith in their corner. She knocked off Smith in the primary but R Crystal Diamond prevailed over her last night in the most expensive state Senate race in the state.
The race between Dem Pam Cordova and R Josh Sanchez for the Valencia/Cibola county Senate seat that was held by Clemente Sanchez but who was ousted by Cordova in the primary, appeared to go to Sanchez. The contest was a surprise.
With the Diamond win and apparent Sanchez win, the R’s made up two of the seats flipped by the Dems in BernCo giving them a net gain of one. Still, the state Senate was charting a more liberal course as a result of the primary when conservative-leaning Dems were knocked off. Nothing last night changes that. The Senate started the night 26 to 16 Dem.
The ABQ Dem Senate victors were Dem Harold Pope, Jr. over R Sen. Sander Rue; Katy Duhigg over GOP Sen. Candace Gould and Dr. Martin Hickey who beat R John Morton to flip the seat of retiring Senator Bill Payne in the ABQ NE Heights.
STATE HOUSE RESULTS
The state House started the night 46 to 24 Democrat and will end up close to that when everything is counted. Speaker Brian Egolf says the Dems could end up losing one or pick up a couple when the races are fully accounted for. Again it won’t make much difference. The Dems and their commanding majority will remain on a liberal course.
That constitutional amendment that would abolish the five member Public Regulation Commission (PRC) and replace it with a three member panel appointed by the Governor won 55 to 45 approval.
All the state supreme court and court of appeals races were swept by the Dems, although the red ripple helped curb the margin of victory in the traditionally blue judge seats.
The Bernalillo County Commission will continue to have one GOP member. George Benson chased away a close Dem pursuer to take the NE Heights seat 52 to 48.
RURAL-CITY DIVIDE
Lt. Governor Howie Morales told our KANW 89.1 FM radio audience that the election results show the polarization between New Mexico’s cities and its rural areas has hardened. A former Silver City state Senator he pledge himself to trying to somehow bridge the divide that comes down to values and Trump. The unresolved presidential race put on the back burner rumors that Gov. MLG could get a spot in a Biden cabinet, making Morales Governor.”
…
The link to the full blog is here: http://joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com/
FINAL NEW MEXICO ELECTION RESULTS
Following are the results of statewide races as posted by the New Mexico Secretary of State:
(**** Denotes Winner)
PRESIDENT
DEMOCRAT JOSEPH R BIDEN AND KAMALA D HARRIS
54% (489,979) ****
REPUBLICAN DONALD TRUMP AND MIKE PENCE
44% (398,442)
UNITED STATES SENATE
DEMOCRAT BEN R LUJAN 51% (463,191) ****
REPUBLICAN MARK V RONCHETTI 46% (414,824)
UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE – DISTRICT 1
DEMOCRAT DEB HAALAND 58% (185,196) ****
REPUBLICAN MICHELLE GARCIA HOLMES 42% (133,695)
UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2
REPUBLICAN YVETTE HERRELL 54% (141,227) ****
DEMOCRAT XOCHITL TORRES SMALL 46% (120,766)
UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT – DISTRICT 3
DEMOCRAT TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ 58% (178,242) ****
REPUBLICAN ALEXIS M JOHNSON 42% (129,305)
https://nmresults.azurewebsites.net/resultsSW.aspx?type=FED&map=CTY
PUBLIC REGULATION COMMISSION
District 1 (Central New Mexico-Albuquerque)
Democrat Cynthia Hall: 59% (118,133) ****
Republican Janice Arnold-Jones: 41% (81,592)
District 2
Democrat Joseph Maestas: 71% (141,84) ****
Libertarian Chris Luchini: 29% (57,704)
https://nmresults.azurewebsites.net/resultsSW.aspx?type=PRX&map=CTY
JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT POSITION 1
DEMOCRAT SHANNON BACON 55% (484,446) ****
REPUBLICAN NED S FULLER 45% (391,166)
JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT POSITION 2
DEMOCRAT ZACH IVES 52% (453,18) ****
REPUBLICAN BARBARA V JOHNSON 48% (416,157)
JUDGE OF THE COURT OF APPEALS POSITION 2
DEMOCRAT SHAMMARA H HENDERSON 51% (440,068) ****
REPUBLICAN GERTRUDE LEE 42% (367,556)
JUDGE OF THE COURT OF APPEALS POSITION 3
DEMOCRAT JANE B YOHALEM 51% (446,046) ****
REPUBLICAN THOMAS C MONTOYA 49% (420,183)
LINK TO NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE RACES
The link to the New Mexico Secretary of States web page reporting on the election results for individual New Mexico House and Senate races is here:
https://nmresults.azurewebsites.net/resultsSW.aspx?type=LGX&map=CTY
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 1: PROPOSING TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW MEXICO TO PROVIDE THAT THE PUBLIC REGULATION COMMISSION CONSIST OF THREE MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR
YES: 55% (436,760) ****
NO: 45% (351,208)
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 2: PROPOSING TO TO PERMIT THE ADJUSTMENT BY LAW OF TERMS OF NON-STATEWIDE ELECTED OFFICERS AND TO STANDARDIZE THE DATE AN OFFICER BEGINS TO SERVE
YES: 64% (493,721) ****
NO: 36% (274,512)
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TOO CLOSE TO CALL WITH TRUMP DECLARING VICTORY
TRUMP DECLARES VICTORY
In early morning brief remarks on Wednesday, November 4 from the East Room of the White House, President Trump attacked the legitimate vote counting efforts, calling it “fraud” with no basis. The President then claimed he “did win” the election, despite the millions of votes that have yet to be counted.
News anchors forcefully called out for prematurely declaring himself the victor despite millions of outstanding ballots left to be counted in several key states. All the major networks carried Trump’s address at the start, but NBC News and MSNBC cut into it to note that he was peddling falsehoods.
NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie said as the network broke away from Trump’s remarks:
“We’re listening to the President speaking at the White House, but we’ve got to dip in here because there have been several statements that are just frankly not true.”
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/04/media/tv-networks-trump-speech-election-night/index.html
ABC NEWS REPORT
ABC News Report posted at 10:00 am, New Mexico time, the following:
“Election Day is turning into election week as the counting of votes continues across the country, with preliminary results showing tight races in several key battleground states.
Candidates need 270 Electoral College votes to secure the presidency. ABC News projects President Donald Trump currently has 213, while former Vice President Joe Biden has 225.
Both Trump, the Republican incumbent, and Biden, his Democratic challenger, addressed the nation in the early hours of Wednesday morning, each expressing confidence in the race for the White House. Trump invited about 400 people to the White House East Room for an indoor watch party as the election, considered by many a referendum on his handling of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, unfolded before them.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, more than 100 million early votes were cast, shattering early turnout records across the country.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/2020-election-campaign-vote/?id=73960714
WASHINGTON POST
According to the Washingting Post at 10:00 am, New Mexico time, the votes are still out in several key states:
Georgia — Election officials are counting the thousands of remaining ballots. Most of the counties still tabulating lean heavily Democratic. Officials have not said when the public can expect more results.
Michigan — Large, mostly heavily Democratic jurisdictions including Detroit were still counting ballots on Wednesday morning.
Nevada — Counting of remaining mail and provisional ballots is underway, and updated vote totals will not be released until Thursday at noon Eastern.
North Carolina — Most outstanding mail-in ballots are in the state’s biggest counties, Wake and Mecklenburg. They have until Nov. 12 to arrive, if postmarked by Nov. 3.
Pennsylvania — More than 1.4 million ballots were still to be counted as of 10 a.m., when counting was set to resume in parts of the state.
Wisconsin — A few places are finishing their counts of absentee ballots, though the final counts are in from Milwaukee and Kenosha. The Trump campaign expect the state to be in “recount territory.” (Update as of (9:pm, State called for Biden, Trump says will demand re-count, but law required 15 day waite to contest.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/04/trump-biden-election-live-updates/
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Trump is so self-centered, so desperate to hold onto power, he wants to disenfranchise anyone who did not physically vote on election day at a polls. The nightmare scenario is now playing out with Trump declaring victory within hours after election night and ordering his party to contest the election results in the battleground states by challenging the mail in ballot votes. The Republican party is already gearing up to file suit to prevent the certification of the election results in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio.
Ultimately, the states will prevail and they will continue to count all the votes and within days we should know who has been elected President.