Duke Rodriguez dodges eligibility challenge, as judge dismisses complaint against GOP candidate

SANTA FE — Duke Rodriguez survived an attempt to bump him off the ballot, as a state judge on Tuesday dismissed a court challenge filed against the Republican gubernatorial candidate.

But the question of whether Rodriguez meets a residency requirement to hold statewide office remains unanswered — at least for now. 

After hearing more than an hour of arguments, District Judge Curtis Gurley of Aztec granted a motion to dismiss the complaint filed by two Republican voters that claimed Rodriguez did not meet the residency requirement in the New Mexico Constitution.

"Our courts want the voters to decide," Gurley said while announcing his ruling that granted Rodriguez's motion to dismiss the case on technical grounds.

Rodriguez, a cannabis entrepreneur who is one of five Republicans running for governor, had described the court challenge against him as a political stunt by supporters of rival candidates.

"I don't view this as just a victory for my campaign," he said in a statement after Tuesday's ruling. "Today, New Mexicans won. They won the opportunity to get beyond the politics of the past and to fix what’s broken."

During Tuesday's hearing, Rodriguez's attorney, Jacob Candelaria, argued the plaintiffs in the case — James Maes of Navajo Lake and John Rockwell of Albuquerque — did not properly serve his client and other involved parties with a copy of the court challenge.

He also argued the requirement that candidates must have "resided continually" in the state for at least five years before being elected applies only to holding office, not for running for it, making a determination at this early stage of the campaign premature.

In addition to residency, other requirements stipulated in the state Constitution for statewide office include being a citizen of the United States and being at least 30 years old.

"Our client has met all the requirements to appear on the ballot," said Candelaria, a former state legislator who has also represented Rodriguez in other court cases.

"The court should step back and let the political process play out," he later added.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit had argued that Rodriguez's extensive voting record in Arizona made him ineligible to run for New Mexico governor this year.

Rodriguez, who owns houses in both Albuquerque and Scottsdale, Arizona, voted in both the 2022 and 2024 general elections in Arizona, where he first registered to vote in 2001, according to Maricopa County records obtained by the Journal.

However, he voted in Albuquerque's regular local election — and its runoff election — last year, and was certified as a candidate by Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver's office this month after filing the necessary paperwork.

Rodriguez, who has insisted he's eligible to run for governor, is a former state Cabinet secretary who is currently the president and CEO of Ultra Health, New Mexico's largest cannabis company. He has sought to portray himself as a political outsider in this year's open race, saying in recent social media videos he has been largely snubbed by current GOP leaders.

He also said a state senator aligned with one of his Republican rivals had recently tried to get him to drop out of the race for governor and run for U.S. Senate instead.

Meanwhile, Rockwell and Maes were not represented by an attorney in their court challenge and occasionally struggled with courtroom procedures during Tuesday's hearing. At one point, the judge reminded them their conversations with each other were being picked up by the courtroom's microphones and could be entered into the legal record.

While acknowledging his legal limitations, Rockwell, a former Bernalillo County Republican Party chairman, urged the judge to focus on the underlying merits of the case.

"We've got a situation where this candidate hasn't lived in the state for five years and he wants to run for governor," Rockwell said.

The lawsuit dismissed Tuesday is one of two separate petitions challenging Rodriguez's eligibility to run for governor. The other challenge was filed in the 1st Judicial District in Santa Fe by fellow Republican governor candidate Jim Ellison of Cedar Crest. No hearing had been set in that case as of late Thursday, according to court records.

In addition to Rodriguez and Ellison, the three other GOP candidates vying for the party's nomination in the June 2 primary election are Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, state Sen. Steve Lanier of Aztec and small business owner Doug Turner of Albuquerque.

On the Democratic side, former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman are locked in an expensive primary showdown. Former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima had also been running for governor as a Democrat but said recently he would run instead as an independent.

This year's race for governor is open since incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. The two-term Democratic governor will step down at the end of this year.

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com