New Mexico officially became the fourth among the first six states to secure a spot in the upcoming presidential primary, after the new election schedule was officiated by a vote from the Democratic Party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee on July 24.
Since 2011, New Mexico’s primary election has been scheduled for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June of each even-numbered year. For the 2028 presidential primary, New Mexicans will be voting on February 15.
The new order of states for the early primary window, according to Ballotpedia, is as follows:
South Carolina: January 22
Nevada: February 1
New Hampshire: February 8
New Mexico: February 15
Michigan: February 22
Virginia: February 29
In October 2025, the Rules and Bylaws Committee opened applications for states in each region in the country — East, Midwest, South and West — to apply for an early primary. Leaders in New Mexico, including Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, the All Pueblo Council of Governors, the state’s congressional delegation and state legislative officials worked to apply for the early spot in the West region on the primary calendar and presented before the Rules and Bylaws Committee on May 28.
During a speech at the Democratic National Committee summer meeting in Austin, Texas, DNC Chair Ken Martin emphasized the importance of this new calendar being representative of the diversity of the United States.
“As a result of this calendar, we have a stronger, more representative path to selecting our nominee. It will battle-test our nominee, it will require them to earn support from every corner of this coalition,” Martin said.
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Daniel Garcia, the communications director and spokesperson for the Democratic Party of New Mexico, said that this change is “a huge deal for many reasons.”
“New Mexico won’t be an afterthought anymore in the presidential primary,” Garcia said. “Anyone who’s voted in the past presidential primaries here could tell you that the race is usually decided by the time it even gets to New Mexico. Not only will New Mexican’s votes count more, but their voices will matter more too.”
Garcia added that the schedule gives New Mexico the opportunity to highlight the state’s strides toward free college and universal healthcare on a national scale.
In a statement following the vote on July 24, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the decision would “(give) New Mexicans a stronger voice in shaping the policies of our nation.”
“You cannot show up for Hispanic voters in November after Democrats have already picked a nominee. You have to engage with them from the start… candidates who want to be taken seriously on immigration and the border are going to have to come to New Mexico and earn it,” Lujan Grisham said.
According to research by Brown University economist Brian Knight, voters in states that go first in primaries have up to five times more influence than voters in later states in selecting presidential nominees. This particular shift also changes the demographics of the early primary states from states with a large white population — Iowa and New Hampshire — to more diverse populations, and forces candidates to address the needs of voters in states like South Carolina, with a predominately Black population and New Mexico, with a predominately Hispanic population.
Joey Sanchez, the Chair of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, told the Daily Lobo he’s looking forward to presidential candidates visiting New Mexico.
“We’re hoping to visit with the candidates to tell them about our needs and concerns. Our tribal communities haven’t had a strong voice in that aspect. With 23 tribal nations within New Mexico and the Hispanic population, it’s a diverse state. For us to be able to move up and be able to have a voice is a great opportunity,” Sanchez said.
When asked who he believed was most impacted by the schedule change, Sanchez pointed to the tribal nations and Hispanic and African American communities.
“The 23 tribal nations have been here in New Mexico long before we were even a state, even before the United States was the United States, and now we can sit at that table with the presidential candidates to voice our opinion, our concerns, and what is needed within the state for our tribal nations,” he said.
Sanchez says this new primary spot will give candidates a greater incentive to listen to tribal leaders and native voters from different areas and backgrounds, so that candidates can incorporate their needs into their platforms.
“We’re all different. Even as Pueblo nations, we’re different from one another. A group of us speak the same language but the dialect is different. There’s different native languages within the 20 Pueblos. And then we got the Navajo Nation and the Apache, too, that make up the state. It’s very unique,” Sanchez said, adding that many of the concerns the APCG would voice to presidential candidates would relate to land and sacred site protections, language preservation, healthcare, veteran care and water rights.
Penelope Loyd Sment is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @DailyLobo
