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PRIMARY ELECTION 2026

Little suspense in New Mexico鈥檚 federal primaries

Republican challenger with Trump endorsement aims to flip House seat

Congressman Gabe Vasquez speaks during the Keep Mobile Homes Affordable Act event at Alamosa Community Center on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025.
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Tuesday鈥檚 primary elections evoked no suspense when it came to shaping New Mexico鈥檚 four federal contests on Nov. 3.

New Mexico鈥檚 three Congress members and junior senator, all Democrats, are seeking re-election. Besides Sen. Ben Ray Luj谩n, none faced primary challengers.

Luj谩n was quickly projected to have won the nomination over his relatively unknown Democratic challenger, Matt Dodson of Farmington, who earned just 14% of the early results to the senator鈥檚 86%. Dodson is a community organizer and U.S. Air Force veteran who .

The Republican Party did not nominate a candidate to challenge Luj谩n. Write-in candidate Larry Marker of Roswell was aiming for a threshold of more than 2,500 votes to secure the Republican slot on the November ballot.

For New Mexico鈥檚 three seats in the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans all narrowed to a single candidate apiece, sparing them expensive primary battles and allowing them to focus on the general election ahead.

Ndidiamaka 鈥淒idi鈥 Okpareke, founder of Olive Tree Compounding Pharmacy in Rio Rancho, sits inside her lab. Okpareke is a Republican candidate for the 1st Congressional District鈥檚 House seat.

In New Mexico鈥檚 1st Congressional District, incumbent Melanie Stansbury will seek her fourth term in a contest against Rio Rancho pharmacist and business owner Ndidiamaka 鈥淒idi鈥 Okpareke.

Similarly, in the 3rd Congressional District, Teresa Leger Fern谩ndez is unopposed in her bid for a fourth term. The Democrat was first elected in 2020 and succeeded Luj谩n after his move from the House to the Senate.

She will face Republican Martin Zamora of Clovis in November. Zamora, who farms in Clovis, has been a state Representative since 2019 in an eastern district extending from San Miguel County across Guadalupe, De Baca, Roosevelt and Curry counties.

While those two districts are reliably Democratic, southern New Mexico鈥檚 2nd Congressional District could be more competitive. In recent years, the district shifted from a consistently Republican seat to a cycle where Democrats and Republicans alternated.

When incumbent Gabe Vasquez was reelected in 2024, he became the first Democrat to win a second term in the district since 1978; yet a majority of the district鈥檚 voters supported Donald Trump鈥檚 presidential bid. Now Vasquez is aiming to be the first Democrat elected to a third term here since Harold Runnels 50 years ago.

But Republicans are eager to take the seat back in November. Republican Greg Cunningham cinched the nomination in April after another candidate, Jose Orozco, dropped out of the contest and backed him. Orozco still appeared on Tuesday鈥檚 ballot.

Cunningham, a veteran and former police officer from sa国际传媒官网网页入口, comes with campaign experience, having run for the state Legislature previously. He has also drawn Trump鈥檚 endorsement 鈥 the only New Mexico primary candidate to do so.

Algernon DAmmassa is the Journals southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.