1970 New Mexico gubernatorial election explained

The 1970 New Mexico gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1970, in order to elect the Governor of New Mexico. Due to term limits, incumbent Republican David Cargo was ineligible to seek a third term as governor. This election was the first in which the governor was elected for a four-year term. Prior to this, the governor was elected to a two-year term, renewable once. This was the last time until 2006 that a Democrat carried Otero County and Sierra County.

Primary election

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was won by state representative Bruce King.

Campaign

A major issue in the election was how the University of New Mexico should deal with anti-war protesters. Defenders of the University did so on the grounds of free speech, and opponents argued on the grounds of law and order.

Jack Daniels ran as a moderate liberal candidate, and he became the strongest defender of the University of New Mexico throughout the campaign. King was the other moderate liberal candidate, and he and Daniels agreed on most issues, with them both supporting the University of New Mexico. However, Daniels was more vigorous in his support, constantly advertising and emphasizing that he supported the University's position, while King mostly avoided the issue. On the other hand, Alexander Sceresse attacked the University, calling for law and order. The Democratic primary had above-average turnout, with 54% voting, and King beat Daniels 49%–37%, with Sceresse only getting 14% of the vote.^[1] Bruce King then went on to become Governor of New Mexico.

Results

Republican primary

The Republican primary was won by Mayor of Albuquerque Pete Domenici.

Results

General election

Results by county

County	Bruce King Democratic		Pete V. Domenici Republican		John A. Salazar Independent		Wilfredo Sedillo PCP		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%
	Bernalillo		40,973		43.65%		49,882		53.14%		2,276		2.42%	725	0.77%		-8,909		-9.49%		93,864
	Catron		638		62.00%		382		37.12%		3		0.29%	6	0.58%		256		24.88%		1,029
	Chaves		4,887		41.22%		6,834		57.65%		49		0.41%	85	0.72%		-1,947		-16.42%		11,855
	Colfax		2,418		55.57%		1,860		42.75%		48		1.10%	25	0.57%		558		12.82%		4,351
	Curry		4,679		55.92%		3,642		43.53%		12		0.14%	34	0.41%		1,037		12.39%		8,367
	De Baca		647		68.39%		289		30.55%		6		0.63%	4	0.42%		358		37.84%		946
	Doña Ana		8,751		53.22%		7,416		45.10%		144		0.88%	133	0.81%		1,335		8.12%		16,444
	Eddy		7,129		57.58%		5,127		41.41%		48		0.39%	77	0.62%		2,002		16.17%		12,381
	Grant		4,435		61.84%		2,597		36.21%		84		1.17%	56	0.78%		1,838		25.63%		7,172
	Guadalupe		1,206		58.40%		844		40.87%		4		0.19%	11	0.53%		362		17.53%		2,065
	Harding		312		47.20%		341		51.59%		4		0.61%	4	0.61%		-29		-4.39%		661
	Hidalgo		925		70.77%		371		28.39%		3		0.23%	8	0.61%		554		42.39%		1,307
	Lea		7,375		57.68%		5,320		41.60%		34		0.27%	58	0.45%		2,055		16.07%		12,787
	Lincoln		1,199		46.80%		1,336		52.15%		17		0.66%	10	0.39%		-137		-5.35%		2,562
	Los Alamos		2,230		37.47%		3,466		58.24%		225		3.78%	30	0.50%		-1,236		-20.77%		5,951
	Luna		1,911		56.89%		1,419		42.24%		9		0.27%	20	0.60%		492		14.65%		3,359
	McKinley		4,295		52.60%		3,613		44.25%		125		1.53%	132	1.62%		682		8.35%		8,165
	Mora		1,084		55.25%		850		43.32%		23		1.17%	5	0.25%		234		11.93%		1,962
	Otero		4,423		52.87%		3,676		43.94%		189		2.26%	78	0.93%		747		8.93%		8,366
	Quay		2,306		60.99%		1,440		38.09%		11		0.29%	24	0.63%		866		22.90%		3,781
	Rio Arriba		5,379		62.58%		3,030		35.25%		138		1.61%	49	0.57%		2,349		27.33%		8,596
	Roosevelt		2,340		54.30%		1,916		44.47%		24		0.56%	29	0.67%		424		9.84%		4,309
	San Juan		5,491		46.29%		5,982		50.43%		214		1.80%	176	1.48%		-491		-4.14%		11,863
	San Miguel		3,876		54.50%		2,952		41.51%		204		2.87%	80	1.12%		924		12.99%		7,112
	Sandoval		3,239		64.72%		1,626		32.49%		98		1.96%	42	0.84%		1,613		32.23%		5,005
	Santa Fe		11,147		60.47%		6,805		36.92%		386		2.09%	93	0.50%		4,342		23.56%		18,433
	Sierra		1,295		52.69%		1,115		45.36%		17		0.69%	31	1.26%		180		7.32%		2,458
	Socorro		1,971		49.36%		1,974		49.44%		33		0.83%	15	0.38%		-3		-0.08%		3,993
	Taos		3,175		56.24%		2,363		41.86%		61		1.08%	45	0.80%		812		14.38%		5,645
	Torrance		1,566		67.01%		737		31.54%		19		0.81%	15	0.64%		829		35.47%		2,337
	Union		1,143		60.28%		731		38.55%		4		0.21%	18	0.95%		412		21.73%		1,896
	Valencia		6,390		56.28%		4,704		41.43%		140		1.23%	119	1.05%		1,686		14.85%		11,353
Total	148,835	51.26%	134,640	46.37%	4,652	1.60%	2,237	0.77%	14,195	4.89%	290,375

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Catron
• Curry
• Eddy
• Lea
• Luna
• Mora
• Quay
• Roosevelt
• San Miguel
• Sierra
• Torrance
• Union

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Socorro

Notes and References

1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/446876 The 1970 Election in New Mexico (in The 1970 Elections in the West)