The 2020 United States Senate election in New Mexico was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of New Mexico, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
On March 25, 2019, incumbent Democratic Senator Tom Udall announced that he would retire. Udall was the only Democratic senator who did not run for reelection in 2020. Democratic U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján defeated Mark Ronchetti by a 6.1% margin. Luján underperformed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden by 4.6%, who won the concurrent presidential election in the state against President Donald Trump by 10.8%. Ben Ray Luján was the first Hispanic to have won a Senate seat in New Mexico since Joseph Montoya in 1970.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
Withdrew
Declined
- Jeff Apodaca, businessman and candidate for governor in 2018
- Hector Balderas, Attorney General of New Mexico
- Terry Brunner, former United States Department of Agriculture regional director
- Pete Campos, state senator
- Jacob Candelaria, state senator
- Joe Cervantes, state senator and candidate for governor in 2018
- Brian Egolf, speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives
- Deb Haaland, U.S. representative (endorsed Ben Ray Luján); (running for re-election)
- Tim Keller, mayor of Albuquerque
- Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor of New Mexico (endorsed Ben Ray Luján)
- Howie Morales, Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico
- Valerie Plame, former CIA operations officer
- Jeff Steinborn, state senator
- Xochitl Torres Small, U.S. representative
- Raúl Torrez, Bernalillo County district attorney (running for re-election)
- Tom Udall, incumbent U.S. senator (endorsed Ben Ray Luján)
- Alan Webber, mayor of Santa Fe
Endorsements
Polling
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Mark Ronchetti, former KRQE chief meteorologist
Eliminated in primary
Withdrawn
- Rick Montoya, businessman
- Mick Rich, businessman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2018
- Louie Sanchez, indoor shooting range owner
Declined
- Rod Adair, former state senator
- Richard J. Berry, former mayor of Albuquerque
- Kevin DuPriest, businessman, data scientist
- Kelly Fajardo, state representative
- Nate Gentry, minority leader of the New Mexico House of Representatives
- Michael Hendricks, attorney and nominee for Attorney General in 2018
- Yvette Herrell, former state representative and nominee for New Mexico's 2nd congressional district in 2018 (Herrell is running for U.S. House of Representatives CD2)
- David Hyder, Valencia County Commissioner
- Steve Maestas, real estate developer
- Sarah Maestas Barnes, former state representative
- Susana Martinez, former governor of New Mexico
- Mark Moores, state senator
- Judith Nakamura, New Mexico Supreme Court justice
- Steve Pearce, chair of the New Mexico Republican Party, former U.S. representative, nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2008, and nominee for governor in 2018
- John Sanchez, former lieutenant governor of New Mexico
Polling
Results
Other candidates
Libertarian Party
Nominee
- Bob Walsh, nuclear safety scientist
Declined
Results
General election
Debate
Predictions
Post-primary endorsements
Polling
Ben Ray Luján vs. Gavin Clarkson<br />
Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican<br />
Results
By county
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
By congressional district
Ray Luján won two of three congressional districts.
See also
Notes
Partisan clients<br />
Voter samples<br />
References
External links
Official campaign websites