On the latest episode of The Forum on KSFR, I joined host Jim Falk for conversations with the gubernatorial primary winners—Democrat Deb Haaland and Republican Greg Hull.
Haaland was Secretary of the Interior during the Biden administration. She pushed back on the idea that there's a divide between progressives and moderates in the Democratic party saying that policy priorities are drive by the needs of New Mexicans, not party ideals.
"I'm a Democrat because I believe that every child deserves a quality public education, that every single person in America and in New Mexico should have access to quality health care, that no one should be going hungry in our state and that everybody should have a place to live," Haaland said. "I don't think these are progressive values; I think they're human values."
This was the first New Mexico primary where unaffiliated voters were allowed to participate. That group overwhelmingly voted for Democrats in the primary, but Republican nominee Greg Hull thinks the numbers might reveal a more nuanced situation. Namely, Hull thinks that a lot of unaffiliated voters supported Sam Bregman and that his campaign can attract those voters come November.
"That's a very concerted part of what we're going to look at—how we address the voters that voted for Sam, and see if they see if we appeal to them as an alternate candidate," Hull said. "Because just looking online, I see a lot of individuals that are that are chattering online saying 'I'm a Democrat, and I'm going to be voting for Greg.'"
But the biggest challenge Hull will have to overcome is funding. Haaland raised about $12 million during the primary- four times as much as all three Republican candidates combined.
If you missed The Forum's Monday broadcast, you can tune in Wednesday at 4 or look for The Forum with Jim Falk wherever you get your podcasts.
