ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman officially announced his candidacy for governor of New Mexico on Thursday, April 10, 2025. In June 2026, Bregman will face off with former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in the Democratic primary for the gubernatorial seat.
Haaland announced her candidacy in February 2025. KOAT political expert Brian Sanderoff weighed in on both candidates as they prepare for the race ahead.
In Bregman's newly released campaign video, the D.A. vows to protect New Mexicans with his tough-on-crime approach with regard to economic opportunities, health care, education, housing and public safety at top of mind. Bregman also denounced the "radical left" in what he believes has caused division within, while highlighting the significance of common ground and unification within the Democratic party.
"Democrats in Washington have been weak, ineffective and complicit with all this madness and its tolerance of the radical left that has divided our party," Bregman said in his newly released campaign video on Thursday. "New Mexico is under attack by Elon Musk, his puppet Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington."
"It's clear that he's going to run against both Donald Trump and the radical left. So, it's interesting that here's a Democratic candidate, Sam Bregman, talking about criticizing the radical left dividing the Democrats," Sanderoff said. "Bregman could be really effective by criticizing Donald Trump, who, frankly, is not popular among Democrats. It's important to remember we're not talking about a general election here. We're talking about a Democratic primary, where probably 90 percent of the Democrats disapprove of the president."
"It'll be interesting to see if later he tries to associate Deb Haaland with being too liberal or whether he doesn't go there. In the general election, usually, we see candidates move to the center. It'll be interesting to see what happens here in the Democratic primary," Sanderoff added.
"Deb Haaland has a lot of state and national connections. She has a support base comprised of a lot of progressive Democrats, Native Americans and Hispanic working-class voters. That gives her a good head start. She was the first Native American cabinet secretary — a secretary of interior, and many New Mexicans are proud of that," Sanderoff said.
"Sam Bregman, however, is a really strong candidate. He's got an aggressive personality. He gets his message out there really well, and he's going to be a formidable opponent to Deb Haaland in this primary," Sanderoff told KOAT.
As of Thursday, no candidates for the Republican party have formally announced a run for governor. The 2026 New Mexico gubernatorial election will be held on Nov. 3, 2026. Due to term limits, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will be ineligible to seek re-election to a third consecutive term.