How New Mexico’s Primary Election System Works

New Mexico uses a closed primary system, meaning voters who are registered with a political party may only vote in that party’s primary election. Registered Democrats vote in Democratic primaries, while registered Republicans vote in Republican primaries.

Unaffiliated voters may participate in primary elections by selecting a party affiliation when voting. New Mexico’s primaries are used to select each party’s nominees for offices such as U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, statewide offices, and state and local positions.

New Mexico does not use statewide primary runoff elections; instead, the candidate with the most votes in each primary wins the party’s nomination for the general election.