Haaland and Hull to face off in race for governor

New Mexico – Former US Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland and former Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull will face each other for the Office of Governor in the general election this November. Haaland beat her Democratic Party opponent, Sam Bregman, in the June 2 primary election 103,366 (73%) votes to Bregman's 38,291 (27%). In the more crowded Republican Party primary, Hull beat his two opponents with 50,635 (46%) to Doug Turner's 41,041 (37%) and Duke Rodriguez's (17,514 (16%). The general election is scheduled for November 3, 2026.

On Haaland's campaign website, she lists some of her top priorities for New Mexicans as education, economic affordability, public safety, and healthcare.

Haaland's goals for improving education statistics:

- Teach kids to read earlier by detecting literacy problems sooner, bolstering universal childcare, boosting reading and bilingual instruction, and expanding summer reading programs and after-school programming.

- Expand career pathways starting in middle school through high school and provide hands-on career experience.

- Create an Every Child Outdoor Initiative that incorporates outdoor learning into K-12 curriculum and provides implementation resources.

- Adopt and expand statewide Community School Models that provide wrap-around services like counseling, school based health care, dental, family support, and community engagement at schools so parents and caregivers have convenient services while they’re working and caring for their families.

- Improve and modernize school facilities by directing uncommitted funds from the Public School Capital Outlay Fund.

- Expand the Opportunity Scholarship to provide free tuition for New Mexicans, including for graduate education.

- Offer more opportunities for students to earn college credit in high school.

Haaland's goals for improving economic affordability:

- Ban landlords from using AI-algorithms that artificially inflate rents, also called rent fixing.

- Crack down on big industries that price gouge at the cost of every day New Mexicans.

- Aggressively build more housing, focusing on reducing unnecessary barriers and expediting permitting processes.

- Expand down payment assistance programs for first time home buyers and assistance programs for workers in critical sectors such as education, healthcare, public safety, and social work.

- Establish funding sources that invest in new and unique business opportunities in New Mexico and allow the state to recruit and invest in New Mexico based operations.

- Invest in more renewable energy to create jobs, lower energy costs, and make New Mexico the energy capital of the country.

Haaland's goals for improving public safety:

- Make smart moves toward community policing models that supplement traditional police work. Create an Office of Community Safety staffed with social workers and counselors.

- Expand access to substance use and addiction with treatment and recovery rather than just incarceration.

- Create accountability systems that emphasize fairness, trust, and opportunity.

- Expand violence intervention and prevention programs in local communities and schools.

Haaland's goals for improving healthcare:

- Increase mobile health clinics to reach New Mexicans in rural areas and protect rural hospitals.

- Ban medical debt from being included on credit reports.

- Protect access for those who use the state’s health insurance marketplace by expanding New Mexico’s Health Care Affordability Fund.

- Use budget surpluses to fill Medicaid gaps and hire more guides to help people keep and access their benefits.

- Launch a full throttle operation to deliver mental health and homelessness assistance to New Mexicans in need.

On Hull's website, he lists some of his top priorities as healthcare, crime, jobs and economic opportunities, and education.

On healthcare, Hull writes:

“Healthcare is a vital issue for every family in New Mexico – in both urban and rural communities. Access to a doctor, an emergency room, or a specialist should not depend on your ZIP code. Yet too many New Mexicans face long wait times, limited provider options, rising costs, and in rural areas, the real risk of losing local hospitals and clinics altogether.

As Governor, Gregg Hull will focus on practical reforms that expand access, stabilize rural healthcare, reduce costs, and make New Mexico a state where healthcare professionals want to practice and build their careers.”

Hull makes several pledges to address issues like strengthening rural healthcare systems, reforming medical malpractice laws, modernizing payment system in ways that reward healthcare quality and efficiency, reducing prescription drug costs, promoting accountability within the pharmaceutical supply chain, streamlining licensing processes to reduce delays for qualified healthcare providers, strengthening retention incentives for providers who serve in rural and under-served communities, and partnering with universities and training programs to build a strong in-state healthcare workforce pipeline.

On crime, Hull writes:

“Mayor Hull has always prioritized public safety, and that will not change as Governor. Under his leadership, the Rio Rancho Police budget has more than doubled and the city has been consistently ranked one of the safest in New Mexico. As Governor, Gregg will increase police presence throughout the state at both the local and regional level, enhance border security to end the fentanyl crisis, and establish a zero-tolerance policy for all violent crimes and crimes against children.”

An average salary for a New Mexico law enforcement officer is about $63,000 a year according to 2024 data. In Texas, it's $76,000 a year. In Arizona, its $70,000 a year. Hull pledges to make law enforcement salaries in New Mexico more competitive with our neighboring states.

Hull also acknowledges a growing list of responsibilities placed onto police officers. Between crime, mental health issues, addiction, homelessness, Hull suggests that law enforcement may be spread too thin and supports strengthening behavioral health services and other civilian teams as well as medical professionals for a more communal effort in preventing crime and responding to emergencies.

On jobs and the economy, Hull writes:

“As the “Pro Business Mayor,” Gregg Hull has secured more than $6 billion in investments in Rio Rancho. As Governor, he will fight to bring new business to New Mexico and strengthen existing employers by using targeted incentives to attract high-paying jobs, expanding the state’s energy portfolio to include all sources while unleashing our oil and gas operations, improving transportation routes along major population corridors, and reforming medical malpractice laws to keep and protect the health professionals our economy depends on.”

Hull argues that New Mexico should diversify its economy by attracting new industries and expanding technical education programs particularly with what he refers to as AI-resistant careers. Technical certifications in careers like electrician, plumbers, mechanics, welders, and HVAC technicians are just as important as more education-heavy careers.

On education, Hull writes:

“Despite spending millions of dollars in education, from early childhood through high school, too many New Mexico students are being left behind. Reading and math scores remain among the lowest in the country, graduation rates are lagging, and families are frustrated. It is time to stop measuring success by how much we spend and start measuring whether students are actually learning.

Education should be about outcomes, not zip codes.

I support holding the education system accountable for results by tying a portion of funding to measurable improvements in literacy, math skills, and graduation rates. With the current formula for funding in place, this will be a challenge but working with legislators on all sides, we can make a change that benefits all New Mexico children. Schools that help students make real progress should be supported and rewarded. When outcomes do not improve, the system should change course. Accountability should focus on helping schools get better, not punishing students.

When schools fail, it is important to not accept such failures. In recent years, New Mexico’s legislature lowered math standards [New Mexico Legislature, HB 171, 2024]. Our state continues to lower the bar when it comes to our kids, denying them the appropriate education to be successful. Under a Hull administration, we will raise the educational bar and make sure our children have the tools necessary to thrive.

We have a chronic absenteeism problem in New Mexico schools. We must develop programs to tackle chronic absenteeism, working with school districts and parents to keep our kids in the classroom and off the streets.”

Hull supports tying a portion of school funding to student outcomes, expanding technical education opportunities, and improving family participation in school activities.