In New Mexico, Republicans are eating into Democrats’ longstanding voter registration advantage 

SANTA FE — With New Mexico set to enter a key statewide election year, Republicans have been steadily cutting into Democrats’ longstanding voter registration edge.

But whether that translates into more success for GOP candidates in what’s become a reliably blue state remains unclear.

Since March, New Mexico Republicans have added more than 7,000 new voters to their ranks, while Democrats have added roughly 2,300 new voters, according to data maintained by Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver’s office.

A similar trend has also played out over the last five years, as Republicans had nearly 16,000 voters more than they did in November 2020 as of last month, while Democrats had about 38,800 fewer voters.

At least some of that reduction is due to “purges” of the state’s voter rolls that are conducted in accordance with state law after every general election cycle. Such purges involve removing voters who have moved out of the state or are no longer eligible to vote from the state’s rolls. The latest purge occurred between January and March of this year, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office confirmed.

But state GOP officials say the increase in their voter registration numbers is not merely coincidental.

Leticia Muñoz, the executive director of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said the state GOP has held voter registration drives in churches, gun shops and at community events in recent years, while also talking to voters about state-level policies that impact their lives.

“We will forge ahead continuing to outpace the Democrats,” said Muñoz, while citing multiyear efforts to flip states like Florida, West Virginia and Kentucky from majority-Democrat to majority-Republican.

However, Democrats still have a significant voter registration advantage in New Mexico, with nearly 573,000 registered voters as of last month — or about 41.3% of all voters — compared to about 441,000 registered Republicans.

That advantage has translated to a steady stream of victories at the ballot box, as the state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004, although President Donald Trump made inroads in the state in last year’s general election, as compared to four years earlier.

In addition, Democrats currently hold all statewide offices in New Mexico, along with majorities in the state House and Senate. The state’s congressional delegation is also currently made up entirely of Democrats, and has been since U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez ousted incumbent Republican Yvette Herrell in 2022.

New Mexico Democratic Party spokesman Daniel Garcia said the number of registered Democratic voters in New Mexico surged for years, largely obscuring the recent Republican uptick.

“The Republican Party of New Mexico may try to tout a slight statistical uptick within a small two-year period because they need a good story, but the reality is that they’ve trailed Democrats in voter registration and, more importantly, election victories, for years,” Garcia told the Journal.

He also said the implementation of automatic voter registration in New Mexico has led to many younger state residents being registered to vote as independents. Automatic voter registration takes place when eligible residents interact with Motor Vehicle Division field offices around the state.

Many of those independent voters, who decline to state a party affiliation, align with the Democratic Party's values, Garcia said, and the state party has recently started mailing postcards to such voters that include instructions on how to change their party affiliation online.

In fact, independent voters are New Mexico's fastest-growing voting bloc, as they now make up roughly one-quarter of the state's nearly 1.4 million total registered voters.

However, independent voters typically cast ballots at a lower rate than either Democrats or Republicans. In the 2024 general election, for example, only about half of registered independents cast a ballot compared to more than 70% of registered Republicans and Democrats.

The June 2026 primary election will mark the first time New Mexico independents can cast a ballot without having to change their party affiliation, under a bill signed into law this year by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Meanwhile, the offices up for election next year include governor, attorney general and secretary of state. All 70 state House seats will also be up for election, along with New Mexico's three seats in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Ben Ray Luján.

Filing day for statewide and congressional candidates is set for Feb. 3. 

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