Former Las Cruces mayor announces run for governor

LAS CRUCES — The third Democrat to announce a run for governor in 2026 admitted Tuesday that his name “sounds like an obstacle course.”

As it happens, most of the supporters packing Ken Miyagishima’s announcement on Tuesday know him as “Mayor Ken,” the four-term mayor of Las Cruces who left city hall at the end of 2023. Miyagishima, who runs an insurance firm and has taught business courses at New Mexico State University, opted not to run for a fifth term.

In February, he announced he was exploring a run for the Democratic nomination for governor, and at Tuesday’s event he made it official, announcing his campaign with a 30-minute address emphasizing tougher criminal penalties, increased affordable housing and improved health care.

Miyagishima joins a primary field with Deb Haaland, the former U.S. Interior secretary, and Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman. Haaland, the first candidate to declare, has a head start on fundraising, taking in nearly $3 million already with $1.7 million on hand, while Bregman and Miyagishima have not yet had to file campaign finance reports. The primary election is in June 2026.

Among Republicans, Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull is set to launch his campaign next month, and retired state Supreme Court Justice Judith Nakamura confirmed last month that she was considering a run.

Miyagishima distinguished himself from his Democratic rivals by contrasting his municipal government experience with Haaland’s work in Washington and Bregman’s legal career.

Several fellow mayors, past and present, attended the event, including Miyagishima’s successor, Eric Enriquez; Tularosa Mayor Deborah Cooksey; and Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, mayor of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Former El Paso, Texas Mayor Oscar Leeser introduced Miyagishima with an enthusiastic endorsement. After the event, Leeser told the Journal, “He’s the longest-serving mayor ever in the history of Las Cruces. … You get reelected because people believe you’ll continue to better their lives in the community, and that’s what he’s able to do.”

Miyagishima, 62, is of Japanese and Mexican descent and has lived in Las Cruces for 54 years. He served as a Doña Ana County commissioner before moving to the Las Cruces City Council and eking out a narrow win for mayor in 2007, an office he would hold for a record 16 years.

Over the years, as the council’s membership took a progressive turn, Miyagishima positioned himself as a business-friendly Democrat, shepherding economic growth, redevelopment of deteriorating neighborhoods and occasionally taking solitary positions, such as his opposition to recreational cannabis legalization. In 2020, he endorsed Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign.

Miyagishima was also a vociferous critic of bail reform as mayor, and as he turned to policy Tuesday he began with crime, calling for stiff mandatory sentences and increased pretrial detentions for defendants.

While he did not address the Trump administration’s border policies, such as deportation raids and handing over federal lands close to the border for military installations in New Mexico, he told the Journal after the speech that he favored cooperation between local and federal agencies: “I agree we have to take care of our border. It’s not to keep our neighbors out, but it’s to have an orderly process coming in.”

On housing, Miyagishima promised a plan lowering new home costs as much as 25% and expanding opportunities for first-time buyers.

He also vowed to push for updates to the state’s medical malpractice laws, arguing that litigation and insurance costs are driving doctors out of New Mexico and depriving communities of services.

“We are the only state that is losing doctors,” Miyagishima said, echoing data from the New Mexico Medical Society reporting a loss of 248 physicians across New Mexico from 2019 to 2024, a time when neighboring states added physicians. He focused on malpractice lawsuits to explain the phenomenon and challenged his Democratic rivals to refuse all campaign contributions from trial attorneys.

“Leadership isn’t just about holding office. It’s about holding on to the promises that we make and delivering for the people that we serve,” he said.