Tuesday’s election will be the very first litmus test of a district that hasn’t seen a large local election since the implementation of a new state Senate map in 2022.
Senate District 10’s candidates – Republican Rudy Mora and Democratic incumbent Katie Duhigg – will face off in a district that no longer leans right.
Before Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the new redistricting map into law, SD 10 included a vast portion of Rio Rancho, Albuquerque’s Paradise Hills and Old Town, and a slice of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque's North Valley.
Now the revised map cuts out Rio Rancho entirely, which completely shifts voter sentiment in the district.
According to a legislative analysis of the newly minted map, the district will heavily lean towards Democratic candidates – who are projected to receive about 60.2% of votes compared to 39.8% for a Republican.
After an unsuccessful bid for Bernalillo County Sheriff as a Democrat, now Republican candidate Rudy Mora is pitching his roots in crime prevention.
“Whether it's here on campus, whether it's businesses trying to operate and provide a service, crime is just plaguing every aspect of our lives,” Mora said.
Mora’s campaign centers around his pledge to advocate for “law and order” and his criticisms of the 2016 bail reform amendment, suggesting it exacerbates street crime recidivism rates.
Democrat Katie Duhigg, on the other hand, is more interested in tackling the state's economic challenges by increasing the minimum wage and addressing the housing crisis.
“Long term, we need to be incentivizing development of affordable housing," Duhigg said. “But, short term, manufactured housing is a fast and relatively inexpensive way to at least address some of that short term need.”
A long-time lawyer, Duhigg now sits as the chair of the Senate Rules Committee and vice chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Mora is a former Laguna Pueblo Police Chief and Bernalillo County undersheriff alongside Sheriff Manny Gonzalez. They both came under scrutiny last year when federal prosecutors named them in an illegal scheme to purchase and sell over 1,000 fully automatic firearms.
“This is 100% a political attack against me,” Mora said.
Mora denies the allegations and asserts no wrongdoing. While named by his initials in the federal indictment, he has not been officially charged with a crime.
Before redistricting, the area was historically Republican with legislative analysts predicting 45.9% of votes for Republicans and 39.8% for their Democratic counterparts.
However, in the years just before the map changes, Democratic incumbent Katie Duhigg managed to unseat Republican Candace Gould by about 3300 votes in 2020, ending a long-held Republican stint since 1997.
It is noteworthy that Sen. Duhigg participated in the redistricting process in her official capacity as an elected lawmaker.
Overall, the redistricting process was met with criticism by watchdog groups who told KUNM it wasn’t transparent and the recommendations of a nonpartisan, citizen-led independent commission were completely ignored and redrawn. New Mexico’s Legislature was controlled by Democrats at the time and remains so.
That said, the district has seen a slight shift toward the left over the years. Back in 2016, David Simon, who is now director of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation, almost eked out a victory over Republican Candace Gould, losing by a mere 379 votes on the Democratic ticket.
According to campaign finance records, this year’s candidates are very close in fundraising. Mora has raised just over $150,000 with large contributions by an oil field equipment supplier and a countertop store in the South Valley.
Duhigg boasts almost $220,000 with several close family members and the New Mexico Senate Democrats making large monetary contributions to her re-election campaign.
Election day is Nov. 5. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
