Open House, Senate races at stake in New Mexico primary – STLtoday.com

The winner of the seven-way contest will compete in a district dominated by registered Democrats to take the place of U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, the presumptive Democratic nominee to succeed retiring Sen. Tom Udall. Republicans were picking their favorite contenders to win back a congressional swing district in southern New Mexico and trying to seize control of Udall’s Senate seat in the November general election.

Valerie Plame, the U.S. intelligence operative whose secret identity was exposed shorty after her diplomat husband disputed U.S. intelligence used to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion, aimed to leap into the general election past native New Mexico candidates and local political dynasties.

Attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez, a longtime advocate for voting rights initiatives and Native American communities, was embraced in her campaign by numerous advocacy groups for progressive causes including the pro-abortion rights group Emily’s List. Rival candidates included Santa Fe-based District Attorney Marco Serna, Sandoval County Treasurer Laura Montoya and former Obama administration official John Blair.

Steve Gerardo, 68, held out a sign in support of Leger Fernandez on Monday at a busy Santa Fe intersection.

“I like Plame, but we really need our local people right now,” he said.

Three contenders vied for the GOP nomination in the 3rd Congressional District, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-1. They included Navajo Nation member Karen Evette Bedonie of Mexican Springs, environmental engineer Alexis Johnson of Santa Fe and former Santa Fe County commissioner Harry Montoya.

In the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, former television weatherman Mark Ronchetti of Albuquerque was competing against anti-abortion activist and Navajo Nation member Elisa Martinez, also of Albuquerque, and Las Cruces-based professor and perennial political candidate Gavin Clarkson.

In southern New Mexico, former state Rep. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo was competing for the nomination against oil executive Claire Chase of Roswell and Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys.

Chase had to fend off a barrage of attack ads surrounding old social media posts where she attacked then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. Herrell lost an open race for the seat in 2018 to Democrat Rep. Xochitl Torres Small.

In New Mexico’s metropolitan 1st Congressional District, three Republicans sought the nomination to take on first-term Rep. Debra Haaland. Bernalillo-based attorney and former police detective Michelle Garcia Holmes is competing against attorney Jared Vander Dussen of Albuquerque and businessman Brett Kokinadis of Santa Fe.

The compact district overlapping Albuquerque hasn’t been represented by a Republican since 2009.

In the presidential primary, Joe Biden is likely to win the votes of most Democrats in New Mexico, where Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has pledged her support.

Hillary Clinton beat Trump by about 8 percentage points in the statewide vote in 2016.

New Mexico hasn’t been won by a Republican presidential contender since George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004. Trump insisted during a rally last year in Rio Rancho that New Mexico was within Republicans’ reach.

Associated Press reporter Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report from Santa Fe.