New Mexico Democrats boost early voter turnout, GOP lags ahead of Election Day

More than 40% of registered New Mexico Democrats have already cast ballots in the 2026 general election, marking a large increase in their turnout compared with the previous midterm election in 2022, according to the latest figures from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office.

In total, about 31% of the state’s 1.46 million registered voters have cast ballots ahead of the general election concluding Tuesday, which is on par with the 2022 election. But this year’s figure reflects an increase in Democratic turnout and decrease in Republican turnout.

Already this year, 40.7% of the state’s 578,000 registered Democrats have cast ballots, compared with 32.2% of Democrats who voted early or absentee in 2022. Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties largely drove the increase in Democratic turnout, according to a Source NM review. 

On the other hand, significantly fewer Republicans have cast ballots early. In 2022, 36% of registered Republicans had voted ahead of Election Day, compared with 31% of approximately 445,000 Republicans registered in the state as of October of this year. The decrease in early Republican turnout was largest in Bernalillo County, where about 14% fewer Republicans have voted versus 2022. 

The 2026 general election comes after the state’s first-ever semi-open primary, which enabled unaffiliated voters to cast ballots for either a Democrat or Republican for the first time. Their access to the primary ballots coincided with a surge of new registrations of voters who opted not to register with either of the state’s two major parties.

Approximately 107,000 more unaffiliated voters are registered this year than in 2022, making them approximately 28% of the electorate versus 22% in 2022. In both elections, roughly 18% of registered unaffiliated voters cast ballots early or absentee.

The general election also marks the New Mexico Forward Party’s entrance as an official minor party, along with the existing Green and Libertarian parties. In total, voters from the three minor parties have cast less than 1% of the total early and absentee votes. 

Overall, the number of registered voters has risen by approximately 100,000, or 7.4%, since 2022, so the overall number of early and absentee voters — about 456,000 — is greater than it was during the last midterm.

The boost in Democratic turnout ahead of Election Day matches similar trends nationally, with national political observers noting signs of a surge in Democrats hitting the polls. Democrats hope President Donald Trump’s unpopularity will result in both chambers of Congress flipping to Democratic control.