NM Democratic Party nominee for Governor Deb Haaland Deb has notified the New Mexico Democratic Party State Central Committee (SCC) that she has picked State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard as her running mate in her campaign for New Mexico Governor. The endorsement of Garcia Richard came one day after Haaland released a list of five potential running mates to join her on the November 4 general election ballot. Haaland interviewed all five of the candidates after a preliminary vetting process.
On Wednesday June 24, Deb Haaland emailed all Democratic State Central Committee Members notifying them that her campaign had received thirteen applicants requesting that they be considered for Lt. Governor and the 13 requested the candidate questionnaire. Nine questionnaires were completed and submitted. Haaland notified the State Central Committee that she planned to meet and interview the following 5:
- Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard
- State Senator Leo Jaramillo
- State Senator Harold Pope
- Antonia Roybal-Mack, J.D.
- Sonya Smith, Ret. US Air Force
HAALAND ENDORSES STATE LAND COMMISSIONER STEPHANIE GARCIA RICHARD
On Friday, June 25, Deb Haaland sent the Democratic Party State Central Committee the following email notifying them that she endorsed Stephanie Garcia Richard For Lt. Governor. Following is the email:
“Dear Distinguished Democratic State Central Committee Member:
I thank each person who put their name forward and who participated in this endorsement process of the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor. Each candidate I spoke with has a deep love and commitment to moving New Mexico forward. This was a difficult decision to make and I’m grateful for your patience and respect.
I am proud to endorse Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard. I’ve made the decision based on a thorough process and who I believe will be the best running mate and leader to lower costs, increase access to healthcare, build safe communities, and improve our schools. Stephanie brings the energy, compassion, leadership, and proven ability to bring people together that I believe will strengthen our campaign and our ability to deliver for New Mexicans. I respect the role the SCC plays in this selection and I hope I can count on the support of Committee members for Stephanie.
The stakes of this race couldn’t be higher because of who is in the White House. New Mexico needs leadership that can deliver, but we can’t deliver on our promises unless we win in November.
Stephanie has won two statewide elections, even when the odds were stacked against her. She is a proven leader – in the classroom as a teacher, as a member of the New Mexico House helping carve the path for universal childcare, and now as the Land Commissioner she has delivered real results for working families. While I was advancing our clean energy economy across the country, Stephanie was leading the same fight here at home. She has grown critical state funding for education, overseen job creation in our energy economy, and implemented policies that protect our air, land, and water.
Her roots stretch across New Mexico, from growing up in Southern New Mexico to raising her family in Northern New Mexico, giving her a deep understanding of the people, communities, and diversity that define our state. Like me, she’ll always stand with our rural communities, from Silver City to Jal to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, because she knows that our people make New Mexico strong.
New Mexicans deserve a government that works just as hard as they do. They deserve leaders who will stop at nothing to fight for lower costs, provide a quality public education, expand access to healthcare, and make our communities safer.
Stephanie is that leader and is the best prepared to serve. In our conversations, what impressed me most was her vision for this role. She sees the Lieutenant Governor’s office as an opportunity to build partnerships, solve problems, and help deliver on the promises we’ve made to New Mexicans. I know she’ll be an engaged, collaborative partner from day one, and that’s why I am endorsing her as my running mate.
Onward,
Deb Haaland”
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BIOGRAPHY OF STEPHANIE GARCIA RICHARD
State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard ran for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor last year, but she suspended her campaign when her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Garcia Richard now says that her husband is in remission and that she is ready to continue with her campaign. Haaland and Garcia Richard have a history of working together and friendship. It was Garcia Richard who nominated Deb Haaland for Governor before Democratic Party nominating convention.
Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard is the first woman, the first Latina, and the first educator to serve in the position as New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands. Born in Tucumcari and raised in Silver City, Garcia Richard learned at a young age the importance of serving others. Her father, a WWII veteran, was a teacher; her mother was active in their church and community.
Garcia Richard grew up in a family that operated ranches on the eastern plans and northern mountains of New Mexico, sparking the strong connection to our land that she holds today. After graduating from Silver High School, Garcia Richard went on to receive her undergraduate degree from Barnard College at Columbia University in New York.
Stephanie Garcia Richard was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives in 2012. During her six years as a State Representative, she championed laws to increase access to a quality education, transparency, and investments in renewable energy, job training, and economic development. She served as Chair of the House Education Committee for two years before being elected Land Commissioner in 2018.
As Land Commissioner, Garcia Richard has been focused on raising as much money as possible for the state in administering public lands while always keeping an eye toward stewardship and preserving the land for generations to come. She believes that the state can diversify the revenue that comes into the Land Office by tripling the number of renewable energy projects, promoting outdoor recreation, and encouraging new and innovative commercial development on state trust land.
With the largest continuous oil and gas resources potential ever assessed in the world sitting in Southeast New Mexico, and land that is prime for wind and solar development, Commissioner Garcia Richard has been committed to working to make more money for New Mexico while protecting the health of our land.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Under New Mexico’s election code, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run independently in the primary election. The winners of those races who share the same party affiliation are then paired on a ticket for the general election. When a candidate is elected in a Democratic Party primary election, and then drops out, it is the Democratic Party State Central Committee that has the exclusive authority to nominate and select candidates to fill the vacancy. This is the case with Maggie Toulouse Oliver announcing she would suspend her campaign and withdraw as the Democratic Party nominee for Lt. Governor.
The fact that Deb Haaland has endorsed Stephanie Garcia Richard to be her Lt. Governor running mate to replace Maggie Toulouse Oliver does not make it a done deal. Far from it. The New Mexico Democratic Party State Central Committee (SCC) is scheduled to meet on Saturday, July 25th, to officially vote to fill the Lt. Governor vacancy. The meeting will be held remotely by zoom conference call. Theoretically, other candidates can be nominated at the meeting and run.
It is understood that that this is the very first time for a New Mexico gubernatorial nominee to get actively involved with selection of a new running mate after a candidate has dropped out. More than a few “political purists” within the Democratic Party severely criticized Deb Haaland arguing she overstepped her authority as the Democratic Party nominee for Governor by getting involved with the vetting process and interviewing candidates for Lt. Governor and then endorsing a candidate.
The New Mexico Republican Party is extremely critical of the process used for replacing Toulouse Oliver on this fall’s ballot. The New Mexico Republican Party likened it to the process the Democratic National Committee Party (DNC) used in 2024 to have Vice President Kamala Harris run for president as its nominee replacing President Joe Biden. The simple truth is the process used for filling the vacancy is in compliance with New Mexico law. It is a process that has been used to fill ballot vacancies in past election cycles, including within the Republican Party. Political self-righteous efforts to exclude Haaland from the vetting process and excluding her in expressing her view and endorsing someone is pure political garbage, especially when expressed by the New Mexico Republican Party as being anti-democratic.
Deb Haaland won the Democratic nomination for Governor in the largest landslide in State Democratic Party history securing 72.3% of the vote (156,861 votes) to Sam Bregman’s 27.7% of the vote (60,189). Deb Haaland won every single county in the state by varying percentages. In Santa Fe County she won with 80% of the Democratic vote. In Bernalillo County Haaland won with 69%. In Dona Ana County, she won with 79%. In conservative Chavez County, thought to lean moderate Bregman, she won with 73%. The 2026 New Mexico primary for Governor was the most expensive primary in the state’s history. According to finance reports filed with the Secretary of State, Democrat Deb Haaland raised over $12 Million while Sam Bregman raised upwards of $4 Million.
Simply put, Deb Haaland in reality is now head of the Democratic Party by virtue of her landslide victory and her fundraising prowess. It is her political career and agenda that is ultimately at stake and that is on the ballot. It was for these reasons that it was totally appropriate for her to endorse a preferred candidate. The political purist argued that Haaland should have left the vetting for a new Lt. Governor exclusively to the NM Democratic Party State Central Committee and that would have been a major mistake ultimately contributing to a divided party.
The Democratic Party State Central Committee (SCC) will make the ultimate decision as to who will be the party’s Lt. Governor nominee and for that reason there was risk to Deb Haaland getting involved and endorsing Stephanie Garcia Richard. Ostensibly, Stephanie Garcia Richard is a person that Deb Haaland feels she can trust and someone who will not undercut her agenda but rather someone who will campaign and promote her and the Democratic party agenda. More importantly, Stephanie Garcia Richard is qualified and can assume the office of Governor should Haaland for some reason leave office before her term ends.
The other candidates who did not get the Haaland endorsement should seriously consider setting aside their disappointment, and perhaps their differences with Deb Haaland, and drop out of the race and throw their support to Stephanie Garcia Richard for Lt. Governor. This will allow Deb Haaland to go forth with a unified party and with a candidate for Lt. Governor that she feels she can work with now and after they are elected.
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