Governor’s race heats up amid plagiarism charges, debate challenge

SANTA FE — What started as a cordial gubernatorial primary contest between Democrats Deb Haaland and Sam Bregman is starting to get spicy.

Haaland’s campaign recently accused Bregman, who is currently the Bernalillo County district attorney, of plagiarizing sections of his sweeping policy plan for next year’s gubernatorial campaign.

Bregman, for his part, has aggressively challenged the former U.S. interior secretary to debate him on the policy proposals.

The back-and-forth barbs could signify the start of a more contentious campaign phase, even though there is still more than eight months until the June 2026 primary election.

The recent friction between the two candidates — former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima is also running for governor as a Democrat — started this month when Bregman unveiled a 189-page plan on crime, health care, education and other issues.

The Haaland campaign responded by pointing out several sections in the plan appear to feature similar — and in some cases identical — wording to reports done by state agencies and legislative staffers.

That includes several sections dealing with tribal issues, such as a plan for ensuring Native American students receive an adequate education.

“For someone who’s been unsuccessfully running for office for 30 years, Sam Bregman still can’t get this right,” said Haaland spokeswoman Hannah Menchoff. “While he seems to have plagiarized large portions of his policy agenda, Deb is meeting with New Mexicans every day and sharing her vision for the future.”

Bregman’s campaign responded to the plagiarism allegation by saying a team of experts had worked to gather information on programs and recommendations from around the nation.

“That is not plagiarism — it is information in the public arena,” Bregman’s campaign spokeswoman Joanie Griffin said. “Sam stands by every word in all of these policies. Those who worked with him to create them believe that he is the best candidate to get these ideas accomplished.”

She also described the plagiarism allegations as “bogus and petty charges” manufactured by Haaland’s campaign.

University of New Mexico political science professor Gabriel Sanchez said allegations of plagiarism in politics typically tend to revolve around candidates’ speeches, not policy plans. U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and former President Joe Biden are among the public officials who have faced plagiarism claims for their speeches.

Meanwhile, Sanchez also said the Haaland campaign’s plagiarism allegations against Bregman could reverberate during the primary election cycle, and possibly be raised during candidate debates.

“I suspect that they are hoping that this will raise concerns about the honesty and integrity of Sam Bregman,” Sanchez told the Journal.

Candidates on a collision course?

Even before the plagiarism claims were levied, Bregman had begun publicly challenging Haaland to debate his policy proposals.

The Bregman campaign has since doubled down on those challenges, including launching a website with a time tracker.

Since announcing her campaign in February, Haaland has embarked on a 19-city listening tour and criticized President Donald Trump’s plans to cut federal jobs.

But she has not directly responded to Bregman’s debate challenge and has declined to take a stance on some hot-button issues, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s decision to deploy New Mexico National Guard members to Albuquerque to assist local law enforcement officers.

Haaland plans to start rolling out her policy stances over the next several months, her campaign indicated Monday.

Bregman and Haaland are both former state Democratic Party chairs, and have emerged as the two most high-profile candidates in New Mexico’s 2026 gubernatorial contest.

The race is open, since Lujan Grisham is barred under the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term in office and will step down at the end of next year.

GOP field still taking shape

While Democratic gubernatorial candidates are already tussling, most of the intrigue among Republicans has taken place out of public view.

Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull is the only GOP candidate who has confirmed his candidacy for governor, though he delayed a planned June campaign launch. Some other potential GOP candidates have ruled out running, while others are still considering the race.

That means the Republican field might not come into focus until closer to next year’s candidate filing deadline in February.

Meanwhile, the two leading Democratic candidates have already announced hefty campaign fundraising hauls, with new reports set to be filed next month.

Haaland said in May she had received nearly $3.7 million in donations since launching her campaign in February, while Bregman said he had raised more than $1 million in a five-week time period after announcing his own campaign.