By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Ken Miyagishima is out of the governor’s race — and he’s taking his supporters straight to Gregg Hull.
The longest-serving mayor in Las Cruces history announced Friday he’s ending his campaign and endorsing the former Rio Rancho mayor, folding a southern New Mexico coalition into Hull’s bid.
Miyagishima and running mate JC Lopez had collected 20,000 of the 28,800 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot within their 90-day window, according to a release from campaign spokesperson Pamela Fletcher. Rather than push for a Supreme Court appeal to secure ballot access, Miyagishima chose to fold his operation into Hull’s campaign instead.
“I have known Mayor Hull for almost 12 years,” Miyagishima said in the release. “My goal is to help transform Mayor Hull into Governor Hull.”
In a statement to supporters, Miyagishima thanked volunteers directly: “You all are the BEST!” He said he plans to keep mobilizing signature-gatherers on Hull’s behalf across southern New Mexico and tribal communities.
Hull, for his part, framed the endorsement as bridging political and geographic divides.
“Ken and I did not enter this race from the same political party,” Hull said. “Yet as mayors, we faced many of the same challenges… potholes are not Republican or Democratic, public safety is not a partisan issue.”
Hull said the two mayors share a record of balancing budgets and delivering results, and called the endorsement proof his campaign is “becoming a place where New Mexicans can come together around something bigger than party labels.”