All 112 seats in the New Mexico Legislature were on this year’s November 5, 2024 general election ballot. Members of the state Senate stand for election every 4 years while House districts are on the ballot every 2 years. Democrats hold the majority control in both chambers. Before the election, there were 45 Democrats and 25 Republicans in the New Mexico House of Representatives. Before the election, there were 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the New Mexico Senate. The 2025 New Mexico legislature convenes on January 21, 2025 and ends on March 22, 2025.
ELECTION RESULTS
On November 5, one Republican was elected in the NM House but the Democrats still retained the majority of 44 Democrats to 26 Republicans. In the NM Senate, Democrats won one seat increasing their majority to 28 Democrats to 14 Republicans. Overall, Republicans picked up 3 seats and Democrats picked up one, just slightly shifting party numbers in the Senate and House of Representatives.
NEW LEGISLATORS
There will be 28 new representatives and senators serving New Mexico in 2025. The 42-member Senate is getting 15 new legislators, nine Republicans and six Democrats. That includes four policymakers who formerly served in the House. The 70-member House is getting 13 new legislators, seven Republicans and six Democrats. Republicans picked up a few seats in the election, shifting the Democratic majority to a margin of 26 to 16 in the Senate and 44 to 26 in the House.
The 2024 newly elected New Mexico State Senators are:
- District 2: Steve Lanier, R-Aztec
- District 9: Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo
- District 12: Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho
- District 13: Debbie O’Malley, D-Albuquerque
- District 15: Heather Berghmans, D-Albuquerque
- District 18: Natalie Figueroa, D-Albuquerque
- District 19: Ant Thornton, R-Sandia Park
- District 21: Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque
- District 24: Linda Trujillo, D-Santa Fe
- District 27: Patrick Henry Boone IV, R-Elida
- District 28: Gabriel Ramos, R-Silver City
- District 30: Angel Charley, D-Acoma
- District 32: Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell
- District 34: James Townsend, R-Artesia
- District 42: Larry Scott, R-Hobbs
The 2024 newly elected New Mexico State Representatives are:
- District 3: William Hall, R-Aztec
- District 4: Joseph Hernandez, D-Shiprock
- District 18: Marianna Anaya, D-Albuquerque
- District 30: Elizabeth Diane Torres-Velasquez, D-Albuquerque
- District 31: Nicole Chavez, R-Albuquerque
- District 38: Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences
- District 53: Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces
- District 54: Jonathan Allen Henry, R-Artesia
- District 57: Catherine Cullen, R-Rio Rancho (potential vote recount)
- District 58: Angelita Mejia, R-Dexter
- District 62: Elaine Sena Cortez, R-Hobbs
- District 69: Michelle Abeyta, D-Tohajiilee
- District 70: Anita Amalia Gonzales, D-Las Vegas
The link to review the results of contested House and Senate legislative races is here:
https://electionresults.sos.nm.gov/resultsSW.aspx?type=LGX&map=CTY
Election Day did not change the overall makeup of the New Mexico legislature when it comes to the raw numbers. Democrats entered Election Day with a 27-15 majority in the Senate and a 45 to 25 majority in the House. They left with a margin of 26-16 majority in the Senate and a 44 to 26 majority in the House. Republicans chipped into the Democratic majorities, but in Bernalillo County Democrats did well meaning that Democrats will still enjoy large majorities in both chambers. Republicans, meanwhile, gained seats in rural areas.
LEADERSHIP REACT
Santa Fe area Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth said that the Senate Democrats are very happy with the results of the election, which was the first for the Senate since redistricting. He pointed out that all Democratic Senate incumbents won their races. The chamber will now have 6 new women: Angel Charley, Linda Trujillo, Cindy Nava, Debbie O’Malley, Natalie Figueroa and Heather Berghmans. Wirth said this:
“While we lost one seat, our 26-16 majority is strong.”
Republican House Minority Floor Leader Rod Montoya of Farmington said in a statement that Republicans had hoped for more success and said this:
“We are proud of our wins, including defending several very competitive seats. Voters are waking up to the inadequacy of Democrat one-party control in New Mexico and are ready for change”.
A MAJORITY OF WOMEN
Despite the raw tally of Democrats and Republicans, history was made. For the first time ever, the New Mexico Legislature is made up of a majority of women. A total of 11 additional women, both Democrats and Republicans, were added to the 112-member Legislature. Female State Senators will still hold a minority of seats in that chamber with 16 out of 42.
Based the election results, women will now hold 60 of the 112 seats in the New Mexico Legislature come January 21, 2025 when the legislature convenes. Female lawmakers will make up 44 of the 70 members in the state House of Representative, and 16 of the 42 seats in the Senate. Of the 60 women elected to serve in the Legislature, 46 are Democrats and 14 are Republicans.
According to the Center for American Women in Politics, which tracks women in elected public office, New Mexico is the third state to achieve a female-majority after Nevada and Arizona and the 3 states are projected to be joined by Colorado in this milestone in their next sessions. Kelly Dittmar, director of research at Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics said this:
“This achievement demonstrates that women are not only running but also winning office at higher numbers and that they are normalizing their presence in political institutions.”
The share of women in all state legislatures combined roughly tripled from about 11% in 1980 to 33% going into the November election, when women held 2,424 seats nationwide.
Senator-elect Angel Charley’s win flipped Senate District 30 blue. She ran unopposed. The seat was previously held by Republican Senator Joshua Sanchez, who will still remain in legislature. Sanchez won the seat to serve as senator for District 29 after the most recent round of redistricting placed him in a different district. The outgoing Republican holding SD 29 is Minority Floor Leader Rep. Gregory Baca, who did not seek reelection.
Senator-elect Angel Charley, who will represent Laguna/Zuni/Diné communities, never has run for office before but she had done a lot of advocacy work as the director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. She did not realize her win was the only “red-to-blue” election result. Senator Elect Charly commented on being party of a majority female Legislature by saying this:
“New Mexico is a great place for leading and championing change, and so I’m just so proud to be a part of this new way forward.”
There were other legislative seats that changed parties in the 42-member Senate. Democratic Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque retired from the Senate giving the Republicans the opportunity to elect a Republican. Republican Jay Block won Senate District 12, which Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino represented before he retired and the Albuquerque-area seat was heavily redrawn in redistricting in 2021.
Republican Gabriel Ramos won Senate District 28, which covers parts of Silver City, Lordsburg and Deming. Democrat Senator Correa Hemphill, used to represent that area but stepped down after the June primary. Ramos previously held the seat, from 2019-2020, but as a Democrat.
Only one seat flipped in the 70-member House of Representatives. Democrat Representative Tara Jaramillo was the only incumbent legislator to lose her seat. Republican Rebecca Dow was elected to serve House District 38 again. From 2017-2022, Dow served District 38, but stepped down to run for governor. She was unsuccessful in garnering the Republican nomination in the 2022 gubernatorial election which was won by Republican Mark Ronchetti who went on to lose to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Both Democratic Representatives Nathan Small of Las Cruces and Carrie Hamblen of Las Cruces had close elections. However, after the votes were all tallied, the incumbent legislators both kept their seats, each by a few hundred votes.
MORE WOMEN ELECTED TO HOUSE LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
It is up to the parties in their respective chambers to nominate leadership before the coming 60-day Legislature, which the full floors need to approve as well.
Woman are among the new leaders in the New Mexico House of Representatives with leadership positions on both sides of the aisle come January. House Democrats on November 16 picked Reena Szczepanski of Santa Fe as the new majority floor leader while House Republicans selected Gail Armstrong of Magdalena as their new floor leader. The elections of Szczepanski and Armstrong will mark the first time women have held their respective caucus floor leader positions at the same time in New Mexico state House history.
Both House caucuses also picked whips for the next two years, who are primarily tasked with lining up votes on key bills. Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil of Albuquerque is the new House Democratic whip, while Rep. Alan Martinez of Bernalillo retained the position for House Republicans. Rep.-elect Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences was elected the House GOP caucus chairwoman, while Rep. Raymundo “Ray” Lara of Chamberino will hold the caucus chairman position for House Democrats.
Democrats also nominated Javier Martínez of Albuquerque to keep his influential post as Speaker of the House, though the entire 70-member chamber will vote on that position on the opening day of the legislative session in January.
Nothing change with respect to more woman being elected to leadership positions in the New Mexico State Senate. On November 16, the Senate Democratic Caucus kept the same leadership for the next two years with Sen. Peter Wirth again chosen as Majority Leader, Sen. Michael Padilla as Majority Whip and Sen. Mimi Stewart as President Pro Tem which will be voted on by the full Senate in January. Sen. Leo Jaramillo was picked as Senate Majority Caucus Chair.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_a3228c60-a37c-11ef-91ea-b70cb80dfcb0.html
ONE DEMOCRAT AND ONE REPUBLICAN STANDOUT
Incoming female legislators include a Republican advocate for crime victims, Republican Nicole Chavez, and Democrat Heather Bergman. One defeated a male in the general election and the other defeated a male in the primary.
Democrat Berghmans, 36, defeated longtime incumbent State Senator Daniel Ivey Soto who was accused of sexual harassment by a lobbyist. Berghmans said people in her district appeared eager to hear from a new generation of female candidates. She will join the Senate as its youngest member after winning 60% of the general election vote. Berghmans campaigned on solutions to surging homelessness and the housing affordability crisis. Berghmans said this
“I did hear a lot of people at the doors who told me to my face that they were willing to vote for me just because I was a young woman. … I think that people are excited to see new ideas and new faces and that women have been the ones to step up to run.”
Republican Chavez has been a prominent advocate for crime victims at the Legislature. In 2015 her eldest son Jaydon, then a high school senior and football team captain who had been accepted to the Air Force Academy, was shot and killed during the commission of a crime. Chavez said she was motivated to do legislative work directly, campaigning for enhanced criminal penalties and financial incentives for businesses that train and hire people as they leave incarceration to address recidivism.
Chavez won her state House seat in Northeast Heights affluent Albuquerque neighborhood district. Chavez is the sales director at a Medicare provider. She expressed pride in contributing to the new female legislative majority and she is her district’s first Latina legislator-elect. Chavez a said she campaigned to ensure a diversity of political values in preserving her party’s control of the only Republican-held House district in Albuquerque, amid a growing urban-rural partisan divide. Chavez said this:
“I don’t believe in just recruiting women,” she said. “I think we should have diversity of all values.”
The link to a quoted and relied upon news story is here:
https://apnews.com/article/female-legislature-new-mexico-majority-ecf633cb46d6ae126ae7813772783434
https://nmpoliticalreport.com/news/democrats-maintain-majorities-in-state-house-senate/
November 6, Source NM article entitled “Republicans gain 1 state House seat and 1 Senate seat, but Dems still have big majority.”
WOMAN ELECTED TO EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL POSITIONS
The New Mexico Legislature being made up of a majority of women is a clear counterpoint to the national defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris to former President Donald Trump. However, some comfort can be taken in the fact that Vice President Harris defeated former President Donald Trump in New Mexico 51.64% to 46.07%.
In the state’s Congressional Delegation, two out of 3 of the States members of the United State House of Representative are woman, District 1 Democratic Melanie Stansbury and District 3 Democratic Teresa Leger Fernandez. It was only 4 years ago when all 3 of the state’s members of the United State House of Representative were woman. A woman has yet to be elected United States Senate from New Mexico, but that may come sooner rather than later if Senator Martin Heinrich decides to run for Governor. Women still only make up just 25% of the U.S. Senate and just under 30% of the U.S. House.
Women in New Mexico dominate the top positions of state government. New Mexico has elected two female Governors consecutively, both to two consecutive 4 year terms, Republican Susana Martinez and Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, for a total of 16 years. It is said that Democrat Interior Secretary Debra Haaland will be running for New Mexico Governor in 2026 and there is little doubt if she does run she will be the front runner for the Democratic nomination. It is also being said that 2024 Republican US Senate nominee Nella Domenici who was defeated for US Senate by Martin Heinrich may also be eyeing running for Governor in 2026. Women also hold other statewide elected offices. Those women elected and now serving are Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico State Treasurer Laura M. Montoya and State Public Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard.
Woman also dominate the Judiciary at many levels. Three seats out of five on the New Mexico Supreme Court are held by women. Seven seats out of 10 on the New Mexico Court of Appeals are held by woman. 17 out of 30 Second Judicial District Court Judges in Bernalillo County are woman. Five out of 10 District Court Judge in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe are women and 16 out of 19 Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judges are woman. Four out of 13 elected District Attorneys in the state are women.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The 2025 New Mexico Legislature, because it has a majority of women, will likely be looking at far more issues important to women and in a much different way. Incoming House Democratic majority leader State Rep. Reena Szczepanski, District 47 put it this way:
“Women bring our own unique life experiences with us into public office, like all public servants. More women in government means more leaders who know what it’s like to balance work and family and who bring real understanding of issues that families care about most, like the economy and public education. Our Legislature is now more reflective of the state we serve, and the diversity of opinion and life experience has helped us enormously.”
Incoming Democrat Sarah Silva, House District 58, says she hopes the Legislature will move to “protect vulnerable populations in a Trump Administration.” She’s particularly concerned with pocketbook issues and said this:
“Inflation, paying rent on time, what a Social Security check covers: all these things that women are used to doing because that’s how we run our households, how we budget for our families long term … So, I think many women across lines and family structures do play to those strengths.”
Republican Representative Andrea Reeb, District 64, hopes that women will help protect girls in an era of transgender women looking to compete in sports. Reeb said this:
“The primary difference between the way that women and men govern is that we, [the] lady legislators, are asked to explain how our biological differences will impact our governing. … Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we’re talking about biology. It’s past time. For far too long, the one-party-ruled Legislature has ignored the biological differences between men and women in sports and other areas. I hope to see a female majority take action to protect female-only spaces and defend hard-earned female accomplishments.”
The link to the quoted and relied upon news source is here:
New Mexico politics has been very good to woman, and in return the entire state of New Mexico has benefited immensely, both in the executive branch and the judicial branch of government. Now that New Mexico has a majority-female state Legislature for the first time in its history, there is no doubt political pundits will be watching to see what, if anything, is different because of the breaking of the glass ceiling. One thing that is very different that is for certain is that the “good o’ boy” politics that has plagued the New Mexico legislature for so many decades may have finally come to a fitting end with woman defeating male incumbents.