On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Tom Udall announced that he would not run for governor of New Mexico in 2018. Udall may have been able to clear the primary field if he got in, and perhaps even scared off some viable Republicans, but that won’t be happening now.
A few other politicians from both parties have expressed interest in running to succeed termed-out GOP Gov. Susana Martinez. On the Democratic side, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham sounded interested in running even if she had to face Udall. Lujan Grisham recently said she knew she’d have to decide by the end of 2017, though her potential primary rivals may not wait that long. Attorney General Hector Balderas hasn’t said much publicly, though one of his former political strategists said he was interested in higher office.
On the GOP side, Rep. Steve Pearce and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez have both talked about getting in. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry has also been name-dropped several times, though he doesn’t appear to have said anything one way or another about his 2018 plans. Berry, who pledged to only serve two terms, isn’t running for a third term as mayor in 2017, so he will at least have the time to run statewide if he wants to.