New Mexico's 2018 Gubernatorial Election Was a Precise Mirror Image of the 2014 Results

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: When Michelle Lujan Grisham defeated Steve Pearce in 2018, the margin of victory was an exact inversion of the previous gubernatorial contest. This outcome reinforced a long-standing pattern of partisan shifts in the state's highest office, highlighting the complex political rhythms that have defined New Mexico for decades.

The 2018 election for governor of New Mexico took place on November 6, 2018, featuring a contest between Democratic U.S. Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham and Republican U.S. Representative Steve Pearce. The incumbent Republican governor, Susana Martinez, was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term. Lujan Grisham secured a decisive victory, winning by a margin of 57.2% to 42.8%. Remarkably, this spread was identical to the 2014 election results, though the parties had swapped positions, as Martinez had defeated Democrat Gary King by that same margin four years earlier.

This result continued a notable trend in New Mexico politics where the partisanship of the governor's office has shifted every two terms. This cycle of alternating party control began after Toney Anaya concluded his term in 1987. The 2018 election also occurred within a state that has increasingly leaned toward the Democratic Party in presidential contests. Since 1992, New Mexico has supported the Democratic presidential nominee in every election except for 2004, when George W. Bush won by a margin of less than one percentage point.

The primary elections held on June 5, 2018, highlighted the internal dynamics of the major parties. Democratic voters cast 175,182 total ballots across three candidates, with Lujan Grisham receiving 116,311 of those votes. On the Republican side, Steve Pearce received 74,705 votes. Notably, nearly a quarter of the state's registered voters are either independent or affiliated with third parties, and these individuals are excluded from participating in the primary process. Furthermore, while the Libertarian Party holds major-party status in the state, its candidates failed to secure the required 230 signatures from registered Libertarian voters to appear on the general election ballot.

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