Las Crucens continued on Tuesday a recent state and national trend of showing up to vote in larger numbers.
Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net
A voting kiosk
Some 6,113 people voted in the city’s municipal election. That’s about 10.5 percent of Las Cruces residents who were eligible to vote.
In 2013, the last time the offices that were up for grabs Tuesday were on the ballot, 4,925 people voted. That was 8.19 percent of people who were eligible to vote that year.
This year’s increased turnout gave a boost to progressive-backed candidates, who on Tuesday won every race in Las Cruces. Progressives expanded their decade-long dominance of city government by ousting the only Republican city councilor.
Earlier this month, 29 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Albuquerque, making it the highest turnout in that city since 2001. Turnout was driven in part by a multi-candidate mayoral contest and a controversial ballot question that would have required employers to provide paid sick leave to workers. A surge of voters showed up to support progressive-backed mayoral candidate Tim Keller.
Other elections in New Mexico and nationwide have seen increased turnout since U.S. President Donald Trump was elected last year.