Alex Ross
El Rito Media

Two Democrats and four Republicans qualified for the ballot in New Mexico’s June 2 gubernatorial primary in which each party’s voters will choose a nominee to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Lujan Grisham is completing her second four-year term and is prohibited by term limits from seeking a third. Voters will choose her successor in the Nov. 3 general election.

The two Democrats who filed to run for governor and secured positions on the primary ballot were former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, both from Albuquerque.

Republicans who qualified to seek the GOP nomination for governor were Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull; former New Mexico Department of Human Services secretary Duke Rodriguez of Albuquerque; state Sen. Steve Lanier of Aztec; former New Mexico Public Regulations commissioner James Ellison of Cedar Crest; and businessman Doug Turner of Albuquerque.

Candidates qualify for the primary ballot by gathering signatures from registered voters representing a designated percentage of the party’s voters in the previous election. In the governor’s race, Democratic candidates needed 2,505 signatures to qualify for this year’s ballot; Republicans needed 2,351.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, who is seeking election to a second six-year term, qualified for the primary ballot as did Democratic challenger Matthew Dodson of Farmington. The only Republican who filed to run for Lujan’s Senate seat, Christopher Vanden Heuvel of Rio Rancho, fell far short of the 2,351 signatures he needed to secure a place on the ballot, leaving the GOP without a candidate for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination.

The Democrats’ nominee could still face opposition in November from an independent candidate or a challenger representing a minor party.

The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office is responsible for determining which candidates qualify for the ballot and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver secured a ballot position for herself as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Democratic state Sen. Harold Pope also qualified as a candidate for lieutenant governor as did two Republicans, state Sen. David Gallegos and Albuquerque attorney Blair Dunn.

Following is a list of other candidates who qualified for the June 2 primary ballot.

• New Mexico 1st Congressional District

• Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D)

• Steve Jones (R)

• Ndidiamaka Ekwua Charlene Okpareke (R)

New Mexico 2nd Congressional District

• Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D)

• Greggory Cunningham (R)

• Jose Orozco (R)

New Mexico 3rd Congressional District

• Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D)

• Martin Zamora (R)

Secretary of State

• Amanda López Askin (D)

• Katharine Clark (D)

• Romana Goolsby (R)

• Sonya Smith (D)

Attorney General

• Attorney General Raúl Torrez (D)

• Samuel Kane (R)

Commissioner of Public Lands

• Jonas Moya (D)

• Matthew McQueen (D)

• Michael Perry (R)

• Juan De Jesus Sanchez III (D)

State Treasurer

• Laura Montoya (D)

State Auditor

• Joseph Maestas (D)

State Appeals Court Judge

• Kris Houghton (D)