New Mexico polling wasn’t even closed yet when Republican Doña Ana County District Attorney candidate Michael Cain began his election night party, barbecuing with friends and family at his law office in Las Cruces. Cain said he was pleased with the campaign he’d run, and felt that the concern around public safety is what motivated citizens to get out the vote.
“People are concerned about the level of crime and violent crime in the community. They’re concerned about the – I don’t want to say homeless, but the crime from certain homeless people. There are certain segments of homeless people that are committing most of the crimes of homeless people,” Cain said. “They’re concerned about people not having access to mental health treatment if they’re involved in the criminal justice system, that’s what we keep hearing over and over.”
Just down the street in Mesilla, multiple Republican Candidates gathered to watch as local and national race results came in. David Tofsted ran for the state’s District 36 senate seat in an attempt to unseat incumbent Democratic candidate Jeff Steinborn. Tofsted said that beyond public safety, primary concerns voters presented to him had to do with bail and competency reform in New Mexico’s criminal justice system.
“I do hope we see a turn towards rational thinking in state government, but I kind of doubt it. We’re in the throes of a lot of people who just vote instinctively for Democrats. What we need is voices out there who are saying, ‘hey, let’s think about who we’re voting for and why we’re voting.’ And I just feel like we need to change the way we’re going in this state.”
Both Tofsted and Cain lost their election bids to Democratic candidates according to unofficial election results from the New Mexico Secretary of State. And while the party didn't get the results they wanted in the Congressional District 2 race between Democratic incumbent Gabe Vasquez and Republican Challenger Yvette Herrell, Henry Young, chair of the county Republican party, said he was encouraged by what he saw throughout the evening.
“Everything has to start at the local level because grassroots is where government actually works. And if we don’t make those inroads at the grassroots level, as far as being able to get along with each other and work things out, we’re never going to see it nationally,” he said. “But I am looking forward to the time when everyone can come together around the table, whether it be in the House, Senate or just local government, in order to do what is best for the constituency everywhere.”
As election season comes to an end and New Mexico moves toward its next legislative session, it’s almost certainly going to take some bipartisan work in order to solve New Mexico’s most pressing issues at the local level.
This story was updated to correctly identify Senate candidate David Tofsted's opponent Jeff Steinborn, Democratic incumbent candidate.
