A retired Albuquerque Police detective and two-time candidate for the New Mexico House of Representatives will challenge Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-NM-02, next year in a key congressional swing district. Punch Bowl News reported last week that Gregory Cunningham is mulling a run for the Republican nomination to take on Vasquez in 2026. On Monday, Paul […]
Author Archives: Alex Ross
Alex Ross is a senior politics and legislative reporter for the New Mexico Political Report. He began his career in daily journalism in Montana and previously worked as a breaking news and politics reporter for the Roswell Daily Record and as the Roswell Bureau Chief for KOB.
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov
New Mexico Democrats stand against GOP federal funding plans without healthcare cost fix
Two bills to avert a government shutdown each went down to defeat in the Senate on Friday. One of the proposals, a continuing resolution that would keep the federal government funded up through Nov. 21, cleared the U.S. House of Representatives 217-212. Reps. Melanie Stansbury, D-NM-01, Gabe Vasquez, D-NM-02, and Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-NM-03, voted […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Gubernatorial race heats up: Bregman challenges Haaland to policy showdown
Democratic candidate for governor Sam Bregman unveiled a sweeping set of policy plans Thursday and challenged his chief rival for the party’s nomination, Deb Haaland, to engage him in a policy debate on the campaign trail. “She can bring her plans, or if she doesn’t have them, she can debate mine. I am sure we […]
Posted inNew Mexico
Contractors push back on immigrant detention center closures
The companies that manage the three New Mexico immigrant detention centers are pushing back against a new report that recommends closing those facilities due to concerns over the alleged mistreatment of detainees and unsafe conditions. Last week, the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a report entitled “Civil Rights […]
Posted inNM Legislature
Lujan Grisham, GOP at odds over special session
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) and legislative Republicans are openly clashing about the necessity for next month’s special legislative session and what the priorities should be taken up when lawmakers return to Santa Fe. Top Republicans, in a letter to the governor released on Monday, called for her to provide them with additional information, including […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Zuni Pueblo leaders back Haaland’s bid for governor
Leaders of the Zuni Pueblo have declared their support for former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. New Mexico Political Report was the first to report the endorsement. The Haaland campaign later revealed the endorsement in a press release, which featured a statement from Zuni Pueblo Governor Arden Kucate, describing […]
Posted inNew Mexico, NM State Gov.
Redistricting Task Force shifts focus after Democratic resignations
Following the resignation of two Democratic lawmakers from its committee, the 2025 New Mexico Redistricting Task Force will shift its focus. A Sept. 3 press release issued by Fair Districts for New Mexico said the Task Force, a panel of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, as well as independent experts, and redistricting reform avocates, chaired […]
Posted inNM State Gov.
Bomb threat target top legislative Democrats in Santa Fe
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include the second threat being investigated in Santa Fe. Threats against top Democrats in the New Mexico legislature on Thursday prompted the disruption and evacuation in parts of two Santa Fe neighborhoods, including one nearby school. Chris Nordstrum, communications director for New Mexico Senate Democrats, confirmed to New […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov, New Mexico
New Mexico leaders outraged by Supreme Court’s racial profiling ruling
Members of Congress and the top prosecutor in New Mexico are condemning a U.S. Supreme Court decision that at least temporarily allows immigration officials to stop individuals based on what critics say is racial profiling. The 6-3 decision announced on Monday granted the federal government’s request to pause a lower court ruling that limited when […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov.
Trump orders states to reinstate cash bonds for criminals. Forcing New Mexico to do that isn’t quite that easy.
The growing push by Republicans to roll back limits on when courts can require criminal suspects to pay to get out of jail while awaiting trial could put New Mexico on a collision course with the federal government. On Aug. 25, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Attorney General and White […]