Former NM Cabinet secretary Sonya Smith joins secretary of state race

SANTA FE — A former Cabinet secretary in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration has entered New Mexico’s secretary of state race, setting the stage for a three-way Democratic primary next year.

Sonya Smith, who led the state’s Department of Veteran Services, announced her candidacy for secretary of state this week.

She joins fellow Democrats Amanda López Askin, the Doña Ana County clerk, and Katherine Clark, the Santa Fe County clerk, in the race to succeed current Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver.

Toulouse Oliver has been New Mexico’s top elections official since 2016 but is barred under the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive four-year term.

Smith, a former U.S. Air Force and Gulf War veteran, was nominated in January 2021 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to lead the Department of Veterans Services. Before that, she had worked in the state Department of Health, coordinating COVID-19 testing.

After nearly two years on the job, Smith stepped down from her Cabinet-level post in November 2022 to be closer to her family.

She said Friday she would work to build on Toulouse Oliver’s record if elected, while also expanding voter education efforts across New Mexico.

“It is a need and desire to protect our vote; that’s what I’m running on,” Smith told the Journal.

She also said she planned to target independent voters — along with registered Democrats — in the run-up to the June 2026 primary election. The election will be the first in modern state history in which independent voters are allowed to vote without having to change their party affiliation, under legislation signed into law this year by Lujan Grisham.

If her election bid is successful, Smith would become the first African American elected secretary of state in New Mexico.

She acknowledged Friday she does not have experience running elections but said her leadership skills and connections made with veterans statewide could be assets on the campaign trail.

All New Mexico statewide offices will be on the ballot next year, including governor, attorney general and secretary of state.

No Republican candidate has, as of yet, announced a campaign for next year’s secretary of state contest.

The last GOP candidate to win election as New Mexico secretary of state was Dianna Duran in 2012. Duran resigned from office in 2015 while being investigated for using campaign contributions to pay for a gambling habit.

New Mexico’s primary election is scheduled for June 2, 2026, with the general election set for Nov. 3.