Tuesday is election day; early voting continues through Saturday

Tuesday, Nov. 7, is election day, as voters in Las Cruces, Mesilla, Hatch, Sunland Park and Anthony, New Mexico go to the polls to elect mayors, city and town councilors and municipal judges, and voters throughout Doña Ana County cast ballots in races for seats on Las Cruces, Hatch and Gadsden school boards and a half-dozen conservation district boards. Doña Ana Community College also has a $16 million general obligation bond question on the ballot.

Polls will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. election day at 42 sites in Las Cruces and throughout the county. Visit www.donaanacountyelections.com/locations.

Visit candidateportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/CandidateList.aspx?eid=2858&cty=99 and enter click on “Dona Ana” in the county box to see a complete list of candidates in the county. (Two of the 67 candidates listed were disqualified.)

Early voting continues through Saturday, Nov. 4, at nine locations in Las Cruces, Mesilla, Hatch, Anthony, Sunland Park and Chaparral. Eight of those locations are open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. The Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd. in Las Cruces, is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.

Election day (Nov. 7) is the last day for same-day voter registration. Absentee ballots must be turned in by 7 p.m. that day to be counted. There are nine secure locations across the county where absentee ballots can be dropped off.

Las Cruces voters will choose a new mayor to take office next Jan. 1. Incumbent Mayor Ken Miyagishima, first elected in 2007, is not seeking re-election.

The city will also have a new presiding municipal judge. Current Municipal Judge II Anthony Filosa is the only candidate on the ballot to succeed Joy Goldbaum as presiding judge. Goldbaum is not seeking a second four-year term.

Las Cruces voters are also choosing city councilors in districts 1, 2 and 4. Districts 3, 5 and 6 are not on the ballot this year.

City of Las Cruces mayor and city council districts 1 and 4 will be decided by ranked choice voting because each race has more than two candidates: mayor: seven candidates, city council district 1: five candidates, city council district 4: four candidates. The District 2 city council race has only two candidates, so ranked choice voting will not apply.

Mesilla and Sunland Park will also elect mayors this year. Salud! de Mesilla co-owner Russell Hernandez will succeed Nora Barraza as Mesilla mayor, as he is the only candidate on the ballot. Javier Perea will serve another four-year term as mayor of Sunland Park, as he is the only candidate in that race. Perea was appointed mayor in 2012 and re-elected in 2014 and 2018. Like Mesilla, Sunland Park did not hold a municipal election in 2022 as New Mexico towns and cities transitioned to city- and town-held elections under the state’s Local Election Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in April 2019.

For more information, visit dacelections.com.

DACC GO bond

If approved by voters, Doña Ana Community College’s GO bond would provide $16 million in upgrades and improvements to DACC campuses without raising property taxes. It would include $1.4 million for security and safety upgrades; $1.5 million for infrastructure Improvements, including maintenance, repair and site development; $2.85 million for classroom upgrades and renovations; $2.5 million for information technology upgrades and equipment acquisition; $8.1 million to replace DACC Sunland Park Center portables with permanent classrooms and equip science labs and student areas.

Visitwww.donaanacountyelections.com/locations.