The 2010 New Mexico gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Democratic Governor Bill Richardson was term limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.

On June 1, 2010, the Republicans nominated Susana Martínez, the district attorney for Doña Ana County, New Mexico, and the Democrats nominated Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish.

While it was initially thought that Richardson would resign early to become Secretary of Commerce in the Obama administration, Richardson withdrew from the position due to allegations of corruption that were later cleared and he remained governor until the conclusion of his term.

Susana Martínez won the election on November 2, 2010, and became New Mexico's first elected female governor, as well as the first Latina governor of any state.

Primary election Democratic party The Democratic primary election was held on June 1, 2010.

Candidates Diane Denish, lieutenant governor

Declined Val Kilmer, actor, activist

Results

Republican party The Republican primary was held on June 1, 2010. Susana Martinez won the Republican nomination by getting over 50 percent of the vote in the primary. A pre-primary convention was held on March 13 and Martinez received 47 percent of the pre-primary Republican vote.

Candidates Declared Janice Arnold-Jones, state representative Pete Domenici Jr., attorney and son of former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici Susana Martínez, Doña Ana County district attorney Doug Turner, former campaign manager for former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson Allen Weh, former chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico

Declined Steve Pearce, former U.S. representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2008 (ran for Congress) Heather Wilson, former U.S. representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008 Gregory Zanetti, former Bernalillo County Republican Party chair and New Mexico National Guard brigadier general

Convention A pre-primary nominating convention was held on March 13, 2010. Susana Martinez was victorious, winning the support of 46.65 percent of delegates, while Allen Weh received 26.32%, Janice Arnold-Jones received 13.16%, Doug Turner won 9.43%, and Pete Domenici Jr. won 4.61%. Candidates who receive less than 20% of the convention vote are required to collect twice as many signatures as those who received 20% in order to appear on the primary ballot. Nonetheless, Arnold-Jones, Turner and Domenici all signaled their intention to remain in the race.

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror Janice Arnold-Jones Pete Domenici Jr. Susana Martínez Doug Turner Allen Weh UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA May 23–25, 2010 — — 3% 8% 43% 8% 33% 5%New Mexico State UniversityNew Mexico State University February 9–13, 2010 — — 2.5% 29.3% 11.5% 6.8% 7.4% 42.6%

Results

General election

Predictions Source Ranking As of Cook Political Report October 14, 2010 Rothenberg October 28, 2010 RealClearPolitics November 1, 2010 Sabato's Crystal Ball October 28, 2010 CQ Politics October 28, 2010

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror DianeDenish (D) SusanaMartínez (R) Other UndecidedRasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports October 24, 2010 — — 42% 52% — —SurveyUSASurveyUSA October 15, 2010 — — 42% 54% — —Rasmussen Reports October 10, 2010 — — 43% 52% — —Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports September 29, 2010 — — 41% 51% — —Albuquerque JournalAlbuquerque Journal September 27–30, 2010 — — 41% 47% — —Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling September 25–26, 2010 — — 42% 50% — —Public Opinion StrategiesPublic Opinion Strategies September 11–13, 2010 — — 40% 50% — —Albuquerque JournalAlbuquerque Journal August 23–27, 2010 — — 39% 45% — —Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports August 24, 2010 — — 43% 48% — —Magellan StrategiesMagellan Strategies June 21, 2010 — — 43% 44% — —Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports June 3, 2010 — — 42% 44% — —Rasmussen Reports May 25, 2010 — — 43% 42% — —SurveyUSA May 23–25, 2010 — — 43% 49% — —Rasmussen ReportsRasmussen Reports March 24, 2010 — — 51% 32% — —Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling February 18–20, 2010 — — 46% 32% — —

With Arnold-Jones Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror DianeDenish (D) JaniceArnold-Jones (R) Other UndecidedRasmussen Reports May 25, 2010 — — 45% 31% — —SurveyUSA May 23–25, 2010 — — 49% 35% — —Rasmussen Reports March 24, 2010 — — 52% 30% — —Public Policy Polling February 18–20, 2010 — — 47% 33% — —

With Domenici Jr. Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror DianeDenish (D) PeteDomenici Jr. (R) Other UndecidedRasmussen Reports May 25, 2010 — — 47% 30% — —SurveyUSA May 23–25, 2010 — — 46% 40% — —Rasmussen Reports March 24, 2010 — — 52% 35% — —Public Policy Polling February 18–20, 2010 — — 45% 40% — —

With Turner Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror DianeDenish (D) DougTurner (R) Other UndecidedRasmussen Reports May 25, 2010 — — 47% 31% — —SurveyUSA May 23–25, 2010 — — 50% 36% — —Rasmussen Reports March 24, 2010 — — 43% 34% — —Public Policy Polling February 18–20, 2010 — — 46% 32% — —

With Weh Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror DianeDenish (D) AllenWeh (R) Other UndecidedRasmussen Reports May 25, 2010 — — 45% 39% — —SurveyUSA May 23–25, 2010 — — 47% 42% — —Rasmussen Reports March 24, 2010 — — 45% 35% — —Public Policy Polling February 18–20, 2010 — — 48% 30% — —

Results

By county Martinez was the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to carry Guadalupe County since Edwin L. Mechem in 1958. County Susana MartinezRepublican Diane DenishDemocratic Kenneth A. GomezWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # %Bernalillo102,71150.79%99,27849.10%2180.11%3,4331.70%202,207Catron1,47277.60%42022.14%50.26%1,05255.46%1,897Chaves11,27970.32%4,71529.40%460.29%6,56440.92%16,040Cibola3,17648.52%3,34051.02%300.46%-164-2.51%6,546Colfax2,91660.21%1,91339.50%140.29%1,00320.71%4,843Curry7,23472.50%2,70027.06%440.44%4,53445.44%9,978De Baca61968.93%27630.73%30.33%34338.20%898Doña Ana24,62851.40%23,19048.40%940.20%1,4383.00%47,912Eddy10,14469.22%4,49830.69%120.08%5,64638.53%14,654Grant5,16548.76%5,40651.03%220.21%-241-2.28%10,593Guadalupe1,10057.05%82842.95%00.00%27214.11%1,928Harding33762.29%20437.71%00.00%13324.58%541Hidalgo1,01458.18%72841.77%10.06%28616.41%1,743Lea9,66174.18%3,34125.65%210.16%6,32048.53%13,023Lincoln5,54473.50%1,99026.38%90.12%3,55447.12%7,543Los Alamos4,72954.28%3,97245.59%110.13%7578.69%8,712Luna3,58858.73%2,49840.89%230.38%1,09017.84%6,109McKinley5,85034.69%10,96565.02%500.30%-5,115-30.33%16,865Mora1,22046.39%1,41053.61%00.00%-190-7.22%2,630Otero11,08569.70%4,79230.13%270.17%6,29339.57%15,904Quay1,95565.10%1,03634.50%120.40%91930.60%3,003Rio Arriba4,81840.47%7,06659.35%220.18%-2,248-18.88%11,906Roosevelt3,16271.59%1,24428.16%110.25%1,91843.42%4,417San Juan24,85769.59%10,77730.17%860.24%14,08039.42%35,720San Miguel3,50838.31%5,64161.60%80.09%-2,133-23.29%9,157Sandoval24,09756.50%18,47843.33%720.17%5,61913.18%42,647Santa Fe17,44132.61%35,96367.24%820.15%-18,522-34.63%53,486Sierra2,88765.78%1,49534.06%70.16%1,39231.72%4,389Socorro3,31752.93%2,94246.94%80.13%3755.98%6,267Taos3,49529.35%8,41570.65%00.00%-4,920-41.31%11,910Torrance3,78867.35%1,82732.49%90.16%1,96134.87%5,624Union1,07172.71%40027.16%20.14%67145.55%1,473Valencia13,35159.97%8,86639.83%450.20%4,48520.15%22,262Total321,21953.29%280,61446.55%9940.16%40,6056.74%602,827

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Bernalillo (largest city: Albuquerque) Chaves (largest village: Roswell) Colfax (largest city: Raton) Curry (largest village: Clovis) De Baca (largest city: Fort Sumner) Doña Ana (largest city: Las Cruces) Eddy (largest city: Carlsbad) Guadalupe (largest city: Santa Rosa) Harding (largest city: Roy) Hidalgo (largest city: Lordsburg) Lea (largest city: Hobbs) Lincoln (largest city: Roidoso) Los Alamos (largest city: Los Alamos) Luna (largest city: Deming) Otero (largest city: Alamogordo) Quay (largest city: Tucumcari) Roosevelt (largest city: Portales) San Juan (largest city: Farmington) Sandoval (largest city: Rancho) Sierra (largest city: Truth or Consequences) Socorro (largest city: Socorro) Torrance (largest city: Moriarty) Union (largest city: Clayton) Valencia (largest village: Los Lunas)

See also Governorship of Susana Martínez 2010 United States gubernatorial elections

References

External links New Mexico Secretary of State – Elections New Mexico Governor Candidates at Project Vote Smart Campaign contributions for 2010 New Mexico Governor from Follow the Money New Mexico Governor 2010 from OurCampaigns.com graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com Election 2010: New Mexico Governor from Rasmussen Reports 2010 New Mexico Governor - Martinez vs. Denish from Real Clear Politics 2010 New Mexico Governor's Race from CQ Politics Race Profile in The New York Times Official campaign websites (Archived) Diane Denish Susana Martínez Janice Arnold-Jones Peter Domenici, Jr. Doug Turner Allen Weh