First time in history NM gets female-majority Legislature
Nov. 6—Election Day didn't change the political makeup of the Roundhouse much. But, for the first time ever, the Legislature is made up of a majority of women.
Based on unofficial election results, women will hold 60 of the 112 seats in the Legislature come January.
In state legislative election results, Republicans picked up three seats and Democrats picked up one, ever so slightly shifting party numbers in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Democrats entered Election Day with a 27-15 majority in the Senate and a 45-25 majority in the House. They left with a margin of 26-16 majority in the Senate and a 44-26 majority in the House.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe said in a statement to the Journal on Wednesday the Senate Democrats are very happy with the results of the election, which was the first for the Senate since redistricting. He pointed out that all Democratic Senate incumbents won their races, and the chamber got six new women: Angel Charley, Linda Trujillo, Cindy Nava, Debbie O'Malley, Natalie Figueroa and Heather Berghmans.
"While we lost one seat, our 26-16 majority is strong," Wirth said via email.
Charley's win flips Senate District 30 blue. She ran unopposed.
The seat was previously held by Republican Sen. Joshua Sanchez, who remains in the Roundhouse; Sanchez won the seat to serve as senator for District 29 after the most recent round of redistricting placed him in a different district. The outgoing Republican holding SD29 is Minority Floor Leader Rep. Gregory Baca, who announced earlier this year he wouldn't seek reelection.
Charley, Laguna/Zuni/Diné, told the Journal on Wednesday she'd never run for office before but had done a lot of advocacy work as the director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. She didn't realize her win was the only red-to-blue flip and was also surprised to hear that Election Day brought upon a majority female Legislature.
"New Mexico is a great place for leading and championing change, and so I'm just so proud to be a part of this new way forward," she said.
Female lawmakers will make up 44 of the 70 members in the state House of Representative, and 16 of the 42 seats in the Senate.
Of the 60 women elected to serve in the Legislature, 46 are Democrats and 14 are Republicans.
Entering this year's election cycle, the only other state in which woman made up a majority of the legislature was Nevada, where 60.3% of legislators are female, according to the Center for American Women in Politics.
A couple of other seats also changed parties in the 42-member Senate.
When Democratic Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque decided to retire from the Legislature, it presented an opportunity for a Republican pickup in Rio Rancho. And that's exactly what the GOP did — Republican Jay Block snagged the House District 12 seat by about 1,500 votes.
Republicans also flipped Senate District 28 held by Democratic Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill of Silver City, who decided not to run for reelection. Republican Gabriel Ramos won the seat, one of the first contested legislative races with all precincts accounted for Tuesday evening.
Ramos previously held the seat, from 2019-2020, but as a Democrat.
"I'm really excited to represent Senate District 28 again," the Republican representative-elect told the Journal Tuesday evening.
Only one seat flipped in the 70-member House; Rep. Tara Jaramillo was the only incumbent legislator to lose her seat. Voters decided to pull in Rebecca Dow to serve House District 38 again.
Dow previously served the district, from 2017-2022, but stepped down to run for governor. She was unsuccessful in garnering the Republican nomination in the 2022 gubernatorial election.
Tuesday night, Dow told the Journal people in southern New Mexico want less government intervention, from local school control to health care to small businesses.
"Southern New Mexico has been hit really hard with the progressive policies," she said. "We don't have the scale of operation to overcome the increased cost of doing business through rules and regulations."
House Minority Floor Leader Rod Montoya of Farmington said in a statement to the Journal Republicans had of course hoped even more Republicans would join the Roundhouse, "but we are proud of our wins, including defending several very competitive seats."
"Voters are waking up to the inadequacy of Democrat one-party control in New Mexico and are ready for change," he said via email.
Another few House incumbents held tight races Tuesday evening, with Democratic Reps. Nathan Small of Las Cruces and Carrie Hamblen of Las Cruces dragging the neck-in-neck polls. However, Wednesday morning found the incumbent legislators both keeping their seats, each by a few hundred votes.
On a national level, Wirth said the Senate Democrats will be watching, "given New Mexico's dependence on federal funding."
"New Mexicans, more than ever, are going to be relying on strong leadership at the state level," he said.
Also speaking on a national level, House Speaker Javier Martínez of Albuquerque said Wednesday was a difficult day for many in New Mexico and the nation.
"What matters most now is how we move forward. Whatever happens next, your House Democrats stand ready to defend your freedoms and our New Mexican values," he said.
Figuring out leadership
The next steps now are pinning down which legislators will serve in leadership roles.
The parties figure this out by caucusing behind closed doors. The Journal has yet to obtain all the caucus dates, but Republican senators are planning to caucus Thursday, while Democratic representatives are planning to caucus on Nov. 16.
All current legislative leadership members won their election races, save for Baca and Majority Floor Leader Gail Chasey of Albuquerque, who didn't run for reelection. It'll be up to the parties in their respective chambers to nominate leadership before the coming 60-day Legislature, which the full floors need to approve as well.
