New Mexico, Attorney General

New Mexico held an election for attorney general on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 13, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the attorney general of New Mexico was Hector Balderas (D), who was first elected in 2014. Balderas announced that he would seek re-election in 2018 on May 16, 2017.
In 2018, New Mexico was under divided government. It had held this status since Gov. Susana Martinez (R) took office in 2011. New Mexico was also under divided triplex control.
In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, New Mexico was won by the Democratic candidate in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016, and by the Republican candidate in 2004. The widest margin of victory was Barack Obama's 15 percent margin in 2008, while the narrowest was Al Gore's 0.06 percent margin in 2000.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in New Mexico from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from New Mexico Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in New Mexico every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), New Mexico 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	48.3%	Donald Trump	40.0%	8.3%
2012	Barack Obama	53.0%	Mitt Romney	42.8%	10.2%
2008	Barack Obama	56.9%	John McCain	41.8%	15.1%
2004	George W. Bush	49.8%	John Kerry	49.1%	0.7%
2000	Al Gore	47.9%	George W. Bush	47.9%	0.0%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in New Mexico from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), New Mexico 2000-2014

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Tom Udall	55.6%	Allan Weh	44.4%	11.2%
2012	Martin Heinrich	51.0%	Heather Wilson	45.3%	5.7%
2008	Tom Udall	61.3%	Steve Pearce	38.7%	22.6%
2006	Jeff Bingaman	70.6%	Allen McCulloch	29.3%	41.3%
2002	Pete Domenici	65.0%	Gloria Tristani	35.0%	30.0%
2000	Jeff Bingaman	62.7%	Bill Redmond	37.3%	25.4%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in New Mexico.

Election results (Governor), New Mexico 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Susana Martinez	57.3%	Gary King	42.7%	14.6%
2010	Susana Martinez	53.3%	Diane Denish	46.5%	6.8%
2006	Bill Richardson	68.8%	John Dendahl	31.2%	37.6%
2002	Bill Richardson	55.5%	John Sanchez	39.0%	16.5%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent New Mexico in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, New Mexico 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2014	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2012	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2010	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2008	0	0.0%	3	100.0%	D+3
2006	2	66.7%	1	33.3%	R+1
2004	2	66.7%	1	33.3%	R+1
2002	2	66.7%	1	33.3%	R+1
2000	2	66.7%	1	33.3%	R+1

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

New Mexico Party Control: 1992-2019
12 years of Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D

Demographics

Demographic data for New Mexico

	New Mexico	U.S.
Total population:	2,080,328	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	121,298	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.5%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	73.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	2.1%	12.6%
Asian:	1.4%	5.1%
Native American:	9.1%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	3.3%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	47.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	84.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	26.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$44,963	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	24.7%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in New Mexico.

As of July 2016, New Mexico's three largest cities were Albuquerque (pop. est. 560,000), Las Cruces (pop. est. 100,000), and Rio Rancho (pop. est. 96,000).