Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is seeking to make history yet again, this time as governor of New Mexico.
In 2018, Haaland and Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas became the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. House. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden named Haaland as secretary of the Interior, making her the first Native Cabinet secretary. Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo, is vying to become the first Native woman elected governor in U.S. history.
Haaland easily won the June 2 Democratic primary to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the first Latina Democrat elected governor in the United States. Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull won the Republican nomination.
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The Democratic nominee is favored to win the general election in New Mexico, a political outlier as an overwhelmingly rural state with high poverty rates that consistently votes Democratic. The state is represented by two Democrats in the U.S. Senate and backed then-Vice President Kamala Harris by six points over President Donald Trump in 2024.
In all, 36 governorships are up in 2026. Five Democratic-led states won by Trump in 2024 (Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) are holding elections for governor in 2026, while two Republican governors in states won by Harris (New Hampshire and Vermont) are up for reelection.
