Haaland Hits Home Run, Wins Democratic Primary For New Mexico Governor
In Victory Remarks, Haaland Kicks Off General Election Push with Commitment to Fight for New Mexicans
Albuquerque, NM – Moments ago, Deb Haaland delivered her victory speech, accepting the nomination to be the democratic gubernatorial candidate in the 2026 general election. During her remarks, Haaland kicked off her general election push with her commitment to lower costs, improve healthcare access, improve education, and increase public safety.
Read Haaland’s Remarks Below:
Good evening – New Mexico!
It’s a joy to be in this place on election night surrounded by so many people who believe in the values that we all share.
This plaza exemplifies the things that make our state special.
Our roots baked into each adobe brick and the architecture traced back to Indigenous ancestors.
A plaza and a church where we dance, gather and pray.
Businesses with parking set aside for lowriders on the weekend and festivals in the evening.
Food that combines tradition and culture.
This is New Mexico. Multicultural. Centered in family and community. This is what we’re fighting for.
Thank you sisters. Zoe, Denise you two have been by my side through the good, the bad, and the challenges. I’m so grateful you’re my sisters.
Andrew, Mr. Speaker, Madam Land Commissioner, thank you for all you do for our state.
Let’s give it up for The Scouts, Lightning Boy Foundation hoop dancers, The Arellano Brothers, Tios Mios, and Mariachi Diferencias!
Isn’t it a great night to be New Mexican?!?
We’re showing everyone that a better New Mexico is possible.
New Mexicans want a leader who will stand up for working people and who is ready to take on Donald Trump.
I proudly accept your nomination as the Democratic nominee for Governor for the great state of New Mexico.
Now… the work begins.
Like so many New Mexicans – I’ve been through hard times. I’m a single mom. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck. I survived off of SNAP and WIC. I’m over 35 years sober. I started school later in life and paid my own way.
These are the same struggles so many New Mexicans face today.
But with the grit, creativity, and persistence that only New Mexicans know, I know a better New Mexico is possible.
A New Mexico with lower costs, more accessible health care, better education, and safe communities.
A New Mexico for New Mexicans.
I will put my experience to work for the people of our state.
I’m the only candidate who’s been a single mom.
I’m the only candidate who grew up as a military kid.
I’m the only candidate who worked across the aisle in Congress and got bills signed into law.
I then implemented some of those laws as Secretary of the Interior, where I led a 70,000 person workforce and managed an $18 billion annual budget.
I will put that experience to work to combat Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid, fight against rising healthcare costs, and take a stand so that ICE will not be allowed near schools, places of worship, or public community spaces or wear masks.
But I will also put that experience to work to address our longstanding challenges.
Our challenges today are not new.
But we must come to the table with new solutions, because we cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results.
That’s why over the past year, I traveled to every single county in our state and met with thousands of New Mexicans. I listened to YOUR ideas and YOUR hopes for the future.
My solutions reflect the grit, creativity, and persistence of our people – so that we can make our state more affordable, increase access to healthcare, improve education, and build safe communities.
We will help our kids read earlier to unlock their educational journeys by putting reading coaches in classrooms.
We will inspire our kids to fill careers we desperately need – healthcare workers, doctors, nurses, welders, carpenters, teachers, social workers, and land managers – starting in middle school.
We will be smart on crime…opening a new Office of Public Safety – that coordinates behavioral health services and addresses the longstanding substance use that tears families and communities apart, and
Make sure law enforcement has the tools and the time to go after drug trafficking, property crime, and violent criminals.
I will overhaul CYFD, so that our kids grow up in healthy homes with the care they need to stay on the right path.
Part of addressing these root causes is ensuring everyone has access to healthcare.
Even though Trump is making that harder with cuts and cuts and cuts, I believe a better New Mexico is possible.
I’ve fought Donald Trump on health care before … and won – and together, we can do it again.
We’ll work toward a public healthcare option so the grandmother in Chaparral can see a primary care doctor just like the family in Albuquerque.
The public school teacher in Clayton can go to a specialist just like the retired couple in Santa Fe.
The child on Jemez Pueblo gets their annual dental cleaning on time just like the young family in Las Cruces.
That means, we must make it easier for providers to practice in rural areas and large cities alike – by cutting operating costs, and expanding student loan forgiveness and scholarship opportunities, and welcoming more professionals to practice in our state with licenses from other states.
The one thing that impacts all of these goals is affordability.
It’s expensive to be poor.
New Mexicans aren’t strangers to hard work. We know long hours and long days.
BUT the system is rigged against working people.
So, I will work to lower costs while making sure New Mexicans have good paying jobs.
So that YOU can pay rent and buy groceries and even fill your car up to get to work in spite of Donald Trump’s inflated gas prices.
Cell phone bills, internet costs, groceries, rent … everything is more expensive.
And the state will step up and put money back in YOUR pockets!
We’ll build more housing to lower costs and ban rent fixing so corporate landlords can’t take advantage of you.
I will expand the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Those two programs were a lifeline when I was a single mom. Those dollars helped me pay my rent ahead of time each year, and so I didn’t have to worry. I want that for every family.
While Donald Trump’s tariffs are leaving Small Businesses in the dust,
I want to make things easier for New Mexico businesses – cutting red-tape and opening a one-stop shop so that anyone who wants to open their own business can find the funds, the permits, and the guidance to get their businesses off the ground.
We’ll embrace our agricultural roots by connecting farmers and ranchers to local grocery stores – keeping money in New Mexico AND making groceries more affordable.
We’ll grow new industries that pay well – the same way I did as Secretary of the Interior – standing up our renewable energy economy.
We can lead with an abundance of wind, over 300 days of sun, and untapped geothermal energy.
When new industries come to our state, we will make sure they can’t use New Mexico as a piggy bank.
We will welcome the good paying jobs, but there will be strings attached.
These industries will be on the hook to invest in our communities, to hire New Mexicans, to protect our water, and to respect our land.
While Republicans are focused on putting Donald Trump first, and attacking vulnerable communities – I’m focused on YOU.
We know what we’re up against.
Our state cannot afford to go back to the days when our behavioral health system was turned upside down.
We can’t go back to the days, when cutting programs New Mexicans rely on was considered normal.
We can’t go back to the days when workers’ rights to organize were under attack.
We can’t afford to have someone in the Roundhouse who wants to take away Universal Childcare.
And we can’t afford someone who will be Donald Trump’s puppet in the governor’s office.
That’s what’s at stake in this election.
But I want to be clear … the general election is about more than what we stand to lose. It’s about what we stand to gain.
Healthcare that is affordable and close to home.
Education that puts our kids at the top.
Safe communities.
And the ability to pay your bills, own a home, and plan for the future.
That’s not too much to ask. And it’s worth fighting for.
If I didn’t earn your vote this primary election, I want you to know I’m going to work every day to earn it now.
Everyone – from Hobbs, to Mora, to Farmington, to Deming, and everywhere in-between – has a home in this campaign.
You are welcome to join us.
Working together, a better New Mexico is possible.
Are you ready, New Mexico?!
Are you ready to fight for lower costs?
Are you ready to fight for healthcare?
Are you ready to fight for safe communities?
Are you ready to fight for education?
Are you ready to show Donald Trump and his administration that, here in New Mexico, we believe in dignity and respect?
This election is critical.
To everyone who came together for this moment – anyone who knocked on doors, made phone calls, or took a friend to vote – thank you.
And thank you to my dedicated staff and volunteers for your hard work, day in and day out.
New Mexico… are you ready!!?!?
Onward to November!