Following its last election cycle, Torrance County is one of the few counties in New Mexico that will remain red this election cycle.
The political climate in Torrance County has been conservative in recent years but it will now be fully Republican with no Democratic candidates running for any open seats. Although New Mexico is a predominantly Democratic state, rural communities like Torrance County highlight the urban-rural political divide.
Voting history of Torrance County
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, most registered voters in Torrance County are Republican. That has not always been the case. The voter registration report for the county in 2000 shows 49% of registered voters were Democrats while 40% were Republicans. By 2014, 38% of the county’s registered voters were Democrats and 42% were Republicans.
Throughout the years, that shift of Democrat-registered voters dropping and Republican-registered voters increasing has continued. Now, in 2024, among the county’s 10,411 voters registered, 27.9% are registered as Democrats, 48.4% as Republicans, 1.5% as Libertarians, and 21.2% declined to state.
According to Merritt Hamilton Allen, a public relations expert for Vox Optima and Republican political columnist, political polarization at the national level is also happening at the state level. She said 24% of the state registered “decline to state” because most moderate voters are frustrated with the extreme positions.
“It is important to note that New Mexico has never been a red state, but I don’t think New Mexico has ever really been a blue state,” Hamilton Allen said. “There is such an obsession with the consolidation of power. We have kind of a history of being underserved by our government, and in the rural areas you don’t have the local infrastructure, you do sometimes rely on the state a little more and the state is not there for them. As the state has moved more progressive, I think that has really alienated voters in Torrance County.”
Up for grabs
The June primary election will decide who is guaranteed to win in the general election in November. With no Democratic candidates, the candidates who win the primary election will win in the general election.
Three seats are up for grabs in the county — county clerk, county treasurer and county commissioner for District Three. Six Republican candidates are running for these seats.
Current Deputy County Clerk Sylvia Chavez is the only candidate running for county clerk and County Treasurer Kathyrn Hernandez is the only candidate running for her own seat. Four candidates are running for commissioner for District Three — Linda Jaramillo, the current county clerk; Mark Martinez, the town trustee of Estancia for eight years; Nick Sedillo, who worked for the county for 26 years; and Nathan Dial, the current mayor of Estancia. All candidates are running on the Republican ticket.
Jessica Velasquez, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, said the reason for fewer Democratic-registered voters in rural areas is that Democratic candidates are outnumbered or there are none, like in Torrance County.
“It is a challenge to have Democrats willing to step up and run when the numbers frankly are not there to support a very strong showing,” Velasquez said. “I think for our part of the state party, what has been very effective is having conversations with candidates. The East Mountains are a great example of that. Democrats are outnumbered almost three to one, but we know that there are Democrats in this area who are hungry for options on their ballot and when we see folks step into the ring with their name on the ballot, it certainly activates and energizes the electorate.”
Hamilton Allen and Velasquez said another crucial reason is younger voters are declining to register. Hamilton Allen said younger voters feel isolated and there is not enough being done to engage them. Velasquez said she suspects it is because political preference is often a family tradition and they feel like no one represents their interests.
The last Democratic legacy of Torrance County was the King family, owners of Bill King Ranch in Stanley. Bruce King, father of Bill King and Gary King, was the former Democratic governor of New Mexico. Gary King, former New Mexico State legislator and attorney general, also served as the chairman of the Torrance County Democratic Party for 14 years.