On Sunday, August 28 and Monday August 29, the Albuquerque Journal released its poll in the statewide races for Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer and Commissioner of Public Lands.
The poll was conducted by Research and Polling which for many decades has done all political polling for the Journal. The polling firm is considered the gold standard in New Mexico political polling because of its consistent accuracy.
“The Journal Poll was based on a scientific, statewide sample of 518 voters who cast ballots in the 2018 and/or 2020 general election and who said they are likely to vote in the upcoming election. The poll was conducted from Aug. 19 through Aug. 25. The voter sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.”
The links to the full quoted Albuquerque Journal articles are here;
https://www.abqjournal.com/2527965/lujan-grisham-has-7point-lead-over-ronchetti.html
https://www.abqjournal.com/2528104/democrats-lead-big-in-races-for-4-state-offices.html
GOVERNORS RACE
On Sunday, August 28, the Albuquerque Journal released it first poll in the statewide race for Governor between Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Republican Mark Ronchetti.
The poll question was “If the election for Governor was held today, who would you vote for?”
The poll results are as follows:
Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham: 47%
Republican Mark Ronchetti: 40%
Libertarian Karen Bedoni: 5%
Undecided: 8%
ATTORNEY GENERAL, SECRETARY OF STATE, STATE TREASURER AND LAND COMMISSIONER
On Monday, August 29, the Albuquerque Journal published it poll on the state wide races for Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Commissioner of Public Lands. Following are the poll questions an results:
SECRETARY OF STATE
POLL QUESTION: “If the election for Secretary of State was held today, who would you vote for?”
The poll results are as follows:
Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver: 45%
Republican Audrey Trujillo: 33%
Libertarian Mayna Erika Myers: 4%
[Declined to Say]: 3%
Undecided: 16%
ATTORNEY GENERAL
POLL QUESTION: If the election for Attorney General was held today, who would you vote for?
The poll results are as follows:
Democrat Raul Torrez: 49%
Republican Jeremy Gay: 33%
[Declined to Say]: 3%
Undecided: 15%
STATE TREASURER
POLL QUESTION: If the election for State Treasurer were held today, who would you vote for?
The poll results are as follows:
Democrat Laura Montoya: 44%
Republican Harry Montoya: 33%
[Declined to Say]: 4%
Undecided: 19%
COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC LANDS
POLL QUESTION: If the election for Commissioner of Public Lands was held today, who would you for?
The poll results are as follows:
Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard: 46%
Republican Jefferson Byrd: 35%
[Declined to State]: 3%
Undecided: 17%
VOTER REGISTATION
According to New Mexico Voter Registration Statistics from the New Mexico Secretary of State, as of January 31, 2022, there are a total of 1,342,690 registered voters in the state. The breakdown of the registration numbers is as follows:
Registered Democrats: 599,242, or 44.6 %,
Registered Republicans: 414,067 or 30.8 %,
No Party or Independents: 301,598 or 22.5 %
Registered Libertarian: 13,644 or 1.0 %
Other Registrations: 14,139 or 1.1 %
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
When it comes to New Mexico politics and statewide races, the old saying is so very true that “Republicans win when Democrats stay home”. Republicans tend to have higher voter participation percentages out of sure survival instinct. The significance of the independent voters also cannot be overstated in that they represent 22.5% of all registered voters in the state.
It should not come as any surprise that the New Mexico Governor’s race is the closest of all the top statewide races with a single 7% digit lead by the incumbent. Historically, that has always been the case in New Mexico. However, when it comes to the other statewide races, Democrats are leading Republicans by at least 10% in all the races.
Governor Lujan has yet to achieve the magic number of 50% plus one that will ensure her reelection. Notwithstanding, with two full months left in the race, she is very much in striking distance and will only have to close a 3% gap. Ronchetti on the other hand has a staggering 10% gap to close when there is only 8% undecided. Ronchetti will have to convince the 8% undecided to vote for him as well as convince at least 2% of the Governor’s support to change their support for her.
Lujan Grisham also has the advantage of incumbency. The last time a sitting New Mexico governor was defeated was in 1994, when incumbent Democrat Bruce King was ousted by Republican Gary Johnson. Since then, Johnson, Democrat Bill Richardson and Republican Susana Martinez have all easily won reelection to second terms.
If the poll numbers hold true over the next two months as is expected, the 2022 elections for Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer and Land Commissioner are likely over. Voter turnout in those races will likely benefit Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s reelection prospects, of course only if Democrats get out to vote.
The forecast for Republican Marck Ronchetti is “very cloudy” and there is a likelihood of a heavy monsoon rain on his parade come November 8.
At this point, the biggest danger Democrats face is a low voter turnout and apathy.
A link to a related blog article is here: