By Tom Wright

I really liked state Sen. David Gallegos’ opinion piece in last week’s paper, titled: If Someone Wanted to Hold New Mexico Back. It went straight to the point on why we are at the bottom of most lists, from education to economic opportunity. There is one category where we lead – welfare dependency. Sen. Gallegos rightly placed the blame on progressive Democrats, who are all about power and not the people. They promote government dependency for those who struggle economically and over-regulate those who achieve.

How do we reverse these trends? Vote differently. Perhaps I should say: educate yourself on the candidates and get out and vote. I know good people who stay at home election day, saying, “What’s the use? Things never change.” The Democrats have control and, true enough, they are one vote away from a super majority in our Legislature. I sat at a dinner party with well-to-do confessed Republicans who had no idea of the Republican candidates running in the June 2 primary. Not good for change.

Statewide, the percentage of registered Democrats is declining while Republicans and Did Not State (DNS) independents are increasing. In 2020, according to the secretary of state’s office, voter registration totals by party were: 580,999 Democrats; 386,872 Republicans; 11,326 Libertarians; 286,771 DNS; and 12,985 other. As of January 2026, the registration totals were: 574,129 Democrats; 443,233 Republicans; 358,848 DNS; and 27,751 other.

Over the last six years, the Democrat majority is diminishing. The number of Republican, DNS and other voters is increasing and the combined totals outnumber registered Democrats by almost double. So, how did Democrats get one vote away from a super majority? Voter apathy is the logical answer.

However, the mayoral special election in Rio Rancho seems to set a new trend. Republican Paul Wymer won against his Democrat opponent by a 26% margin – 63% to 37%. That exceeds the political party makeup of Sandoval County where registration numbers show 45,164 Democrats; 38,583 Republicans; and 32,205 DNS. This is not a new voting trend in Rio Rancho where Republican Gregg Hull has been mayor for the past 12 years, guiding that city to rank as the state’s third largest with thriving businesses, jobs and employment. Hull is running in the Republican primary for governor.

National news organizations are noting that President Donald Trump won Rio Rancho by a margin of 3%, meaning Paul Wymer outperformed the president by 23%. Could this be a trend in New Mexico? We will see. What I do know is Trump just endorsed Greg Cunningham in the 2nd Congressional District. Democrats’ gerrymandering has perhaps backfired in District 2 and in District 3, which is mostly composed of northern New Mexico and now includes conservative Clovis. Clovis’ own Martin Zamora, who was elected to state House District 63 in 2018 and is running for Congress in District 3, is truly one of the people. He is a farmer and rancher, not a lawyer or professional politician, and has campaigned among the communities in the northern part of the state where his opponent seldom goes. While Santa Fe County is a Democratic stronghold, I met Zamora there this past week. He has the sincere personal appeal that attracts people. This is something I have found lacking in our current representative.

Can New Mexico make a comeback? I believe it can, from governor to Congress. This will take defeating progressive Democrats. We the people of New Mexico deserve better representation, but we must get out and vote. The Democratic Party may tell you it is big and tough and has a mean, loud machine, but it is now in the minority.