2026 United States Senate election in New Mexico

For related races, see 2026 United States Senate elections.

2026 United States Senate election in New Mexico
November 3, 2026
 
Party Democratic
Incumbent U.S. senator

Ben Ray Luján
Democratic



The 2026 United States Senate election in New Mexico will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of New Mexico, concurrently with other elections to the U.S. Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and other state and local elections. Primary elections will be held on June 2, 2026. Incumbent Democratic Senator Ben Ray Luján is seeking election to a second full term.[1] Luján was elected to his first full term with 51.73% of the vote in 2020 to succeed retiring Democratic Senator Tom Udall.[2]

Background

New Mexico is considered to be a moderately blue state at the federal and state levels. Kamala Harris won the state by 6 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, while the last time a statewide race was won by a Republican was in 2016, when Judith Nakamura won re-election to the state's Supreme Court. The most recent election for this seat, held in 2020, saw Democrat Ben Ray Luján win his first term in the Senate by six points over Republican Mark Ronchetti.[3]

Democrats currently control all statewide executive offices, the entire congressional delegation, and majorities in both state legislative chambers.[4] New Mexico has not voted for the Republican presidential nominee since 2004, and last voted for a Republican senator in 2002.[5]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Endorsements

Ben Ray Luján
Organizations

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 2025
Candidate Raised Spent Cash on hand
Ben Ray Luján (D) $6,500,680 $2,863,750 $3,716,254
Matt Dodson (D) $7,975 $780 $7,196
Source: Federal Election Commission[14]

Republican primary

Christopher Heuvel, the only Republican to file for the race, was disqualified for failing to meet the requirements to appear on the ballot.[15] The Republican Party had an opportunity to field a prospective candidate until March 17 to collect the signatures needed to qualify for the nomination as a write-in, which was successfully done by former oil and gas operator Larry Marker.[16]

Candidates

Declared

  • Larry Marker (write-in), former oil and gas operator[16][17]

Disqualified

  • Christopher Heuvel[18]

Declined

Third parties

Candidates

Filed paperwork

  • Cameron Chick (Independent)[20]
  • Mira O'Connell (Independent), law enforcement veteran[21]
  • Toby Smith (Jewish/Christian National Party)[22]

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Inside Elections[23] Safe D January 12, 2026
The Cook Political Report[24] Solid D January 12, 2026
Sabato's Crystal Ball[25] Safe D January 29, 2026
Race to the WH[26] Safe D February 25, 2026

References

  1. ^ Neukam, Stephen; Nichols, Hans (February 14, 2025). "Schumer's private plea to Senate Dems who are weighing retirement". Axios. Retrieved April 22, 2025. ...Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) are sending strong signals they plan to run for reelection.
  2. ^ "Democrat Ben Ray Luján wins New Mexico's Senate race". PBS. November 4, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  3. ^ "New Mexico U.S. Senate Election Results". New York Times. November 3, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2025. Ben Ray Luján, Democrat, wins the U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico.
  4. ^ "Election Results 2022". sos.nm.gov. New Mexico Secretary of State. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  5. ^ "How New Mexico has voted for presidents in past elections". KOAT News. November 5, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  6. ^ Simonich, Milan (January 25, 2026). "Democratic socialist challenging Ben Ray Luján". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  7. ^ "Lujan will mount reelection bid for U.S. Senate". Roswell Daily Record. April 23, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  8. ^ "Ben Ray Luján". JStreetPAC. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  9. ^ "Jewish Dems Endorsed Candidates". Jewish Democratic Council of America. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  10. ^ "Candidates". Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs.
  11. ^ "2025-2026 Endorsements". League of Conservation Voters. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  12. ^ "Endorsement: Ben-Ray Lujan". Latino Victory. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  13. ^ "2026 Endorsements". Population Connection Action Fund. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  14. ^ "2026 Election United States Senate - New Mexico". fec.gov. Federal Election Commission. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  15. ^ "Four New Mexico candidates disqualified after failing to meet ballot requirements". Albuquerque Journal. February 10, 2026. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  16. ^ a b "2026 Primary Election Contest/Candidate List". New Mexico Secretary of State. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
  17. ^ Wyland, Scott (October 20, 2022). "Two seek to unseat state land commissioner". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  18. ^ "Four New Mexico candidates disqualified after failing to meet ballot requirements". Albuquerque Journal. February 10, 2026. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  19. ^ Boyd, Dan (April 14, 2025). "Nella Domenici rules out run for NM statewide office in 2026". abqjournal. Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  20. ^ "FEC Form 2 for Report FEC-1950220". docquery.fec.gov. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
  21. ^ "FEC Form 2 for Report FEC-1953957". docquery.fec.gov. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
  22. ^ "SMITH, TOBY MR. - Candidate overview". FEC.gov. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  23. ^ "Senate Ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  24. ^ "2026 CPR Senate Race Ratings". Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  25. ^ "2026 Senate ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  26. ^ "2026 Senate Forecast". Race to the WH. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
Official campaign websites
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