Photo by alphabunny_photos/flickr.com
Democrats and Republicans go to the polls today to decide which candidates for county, state, judicial and federal races will represent them on the ballot in November.
The race that has received the most attention is the Republican gubernatorial primary, but there are also two GOP congressional primaries, Democratic and Republican primaries for statewide offices including lieutenant governor and land commissioner, and judicial and county primary races throughout the state.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. To view your sample ballot, click here. To find your polling place, click here.
Check back throughout the evening for election results and in-depth coverage on NMPolitics.net. In addition, NMPolitics.net has partnered with the New Mexico Independent and other news organizations to host a liveblog this evening. Check it out by clicking here.
We’re all anxiously awaiting the results of the races, but here are some other things to look for:
• Will House Speaker Ben Luján’s primary challenger, Carl Trujillo, come anywhere close to beating him? The results of that race could give us a sense of how deep anti-incumbent sentiment runs (or doesn’t run) in New Mexico this year.
• Will fewer Democrats vote for U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., who is uncontested in the primary, than vote in the contested races? Teague has angered many in his party with his actions on health care, and if a lot of Democrats intentionally don’t vote for him today, it could be a sign of a big problem for him in November.
• Will there be long lines at the polls? High voter turnout isn’t expected (some are guessing it will be around 30 percent), so if turnout is high it could mean some of those people who voted for the first time in 2008 are showing up to vote again. If that happens, polling and conventional wisdom could go out the window.
If you see any election problems or have any other news tips during the day, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. I’d also love to get photos of lines at polling places and of election night parties.