Democrats Lose in Southern New Mexico But Dominate Doña Ana County Stronghold

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Contributing writer Stephen Jones checks in with more on-the-ground coverage from Southern New Mexico.

After a hard fought campaign, Doña Ana County Democrats celebrated the local victories of Andy Segovia, Jose “Joel” Cano, and Mannie Arrieta, who raced through the finish line and expressed their gratitude to supporters at an enthusiastic gathering at the Beverly Hills event center in Las Cruces last night. With their families at their sides, Cano, Segovia and Arrieta thanked their friends and supporters and promised to bring integrity to their respective offices.

Despite strong finishes in Doña Ana County, other southern New Mexico Democrats finished the campaign with mixed results. Congressman Harry Teague and the statewide Democratic ticket narrowly lost races in the southern half of New Mexico, including much of Congressional District 2. However, most held on in most contests in Doña Ana County, New Mexico’s second largest county. Two sour notes were losses by Democratic State Representatives Jeff Steinborn and Nate Cote who lost to their Republican challengers, Terry McMillan and Ricky Little. State Representatives Joni Gutierrez and Andy Nunez were easily re-elected. State Representative Joseph Cervantes and Mary Helen Garcia were unopposed.

On the bright side, Appellate Judge Mannie Arrieta led a field of Doña Ana County candidates to victory. Arrieta was reelected to a full term, soundly defeating his Republican opponent Rick Wellborn by a 53-47% margin. Elected by even larger margins were Andy Segovia, the Democratic candidate for County Assessor, and Jose “Joel” Cano, who was easily elected Magistrate Judge. Magistrate Judge Olivia Garcia and Probate Judge Alice Salcido were also re-elected. Sheriff Todd Garrison, the Republican incumbent, beat back a challenge from Democrat Juan “JR” Stewart. Democrats County Commissioner Karen Perez was easily re-elected, while Billy Garrett narrowly won a seat in District 1.

Teague and the rest of the statewide Democratic ticket, with the exceptions of and Secretary of State Mary Herrera, won handily in Doña Ana County, but fell badly to Republican opponents elsewhere in southern New Mexico. Bill McCamley and Stephanie DuBois were also defeated in their district wide contests, despite strong finishes in Doña Ana County . Teague garnered the highest vote margin of any Democrat in Doña Ana County, winning a sizable 56% of the total vote in the County, however he was defeated by Steve Pearce District-wide. PRC candidate McCamley was narrowly tipped by Republican Ben Hall by only a few hundred votes in his contest.

Click for Doña Ana County election results and statewide results.

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