Senator Ben Ray Lujan is assuring New Mexicans that his head isn't too big for his britches in light of the historic turn of events that has left him virtually unopposed for re-election this year. 

He says in a message to constituents: 

I will never take the trust of New Mexicans or this race for granted. 

Lujan will have no official GOP opponent after their only candidate failed to qualify for the June primary ballot and he offered this reason for his free ride: 

Republicans know their agenda is unpopular and Donald Trump's policies are making life more expensive for New Mexico families. Instead of answering for that record, they've avoiding accountability at the ballot box. 

While the GOP lost their chance to challenge Lujan--the first time in state history they failed to field a Senate candidate--a minority party such as the Libertarians--could still nominate token opposition. 

Also, an independent candidate could make a run. Such a candidate must have registered as a decline to state voter by this past January. According to NM Open Elections, an independent candidate would need to collect 13,929 voter signatures to quality for the ballot. Write-in candidates could also still oppose Lujan. 

FREE RIDE REACT 

The GOP failure to take on Lujan is naturally causing tension in the state's minority party. GOP Chair Amy Barela is taking much of the heat and she gets more from Mark Murton, the 1st Vice-Chair of the Bernalillo county GOP:

Joe, the Bernalillo County party will continue creeping forward. RPNM and Amy Barela is not the boss of us and, if she has written us off, then we’d just as soon she cease harassing us. In the end, the GOP’s existential crisis is a Republican voters crisis. We need to figure out a way to get our voters off the couch, out to every election, and volunteering to help us rather than sniping from the sidelines, 

Murton adds that because of the state's immense permanent savings accounts of over $60 billion becoming a one party state poses a unique danger for conservatives:

NM could be the eternally-funded playground in which to fund socialist prototypes for export, long after California finances collapse. For this reason, NM has national significance all out of proportion to its electoral votes. It would be nice if the RNC and big-ticket politicos recognized this. 

 GOP Chair Barela said of the GOP's epic Lujan failure:

We made repeated outreach efforts to candidates who were short on signatures and offered assistance. In several instances, those efforts were met with little or no response. We stand ready to help any Republican willing to put in the work — but we can only help when help is requested and when communication is open.

THE FRAMING 

Former MLG Communications Director Trip Stelnicki offered his thoughts on analysis we offered over the GOP's drift toward irrelevance: 

We wrote: The "bothsidesism" of the legacy media frequently disguises the dire state of the state's minority party. Their narratives continue to feature the GOP as an integral part of lawmaking and political tension even as their philosophical influence has been arguably nil--and for years not months. 

Stelnicki says: Joe, I can remember during my time as comms director, a reporter starting on the state government beat asked me if I had any advice. I said if he wanted to write interesting stories that actually reflect what's happening he should ditch the D-vs.-R frame and report on the debates between the liberal Ds and conservative Ds, because that's the only debate that matters here now. That was 5 years ago and it's only become more true. Within two weeks of that conversation he'd written a half dozen stories centering the point of view of GOP backbenchers. La Politica changes slowly, if ever, huh?  Always enjoy reading/

SUING DUKE 

The lawsuit over his residency that has been expected ever since Duke Rodriguez joined the chase for the '26 GOP gubernatorial nomination is here. It was filed by allies of Farmington area state Senator Steve Lanier who is also running for the GOP nod. 

Rodriguez, who reacted to the legal challenge on the socials, has lived and voted in Arizona but also maintained an ABQ home. The issue is whether he has met the state constitutional requirement that he has resided here continuously for five years. 

Rodriguez, a cannabis tycoon, has emerged as the early GOP front-runner because of his pledge to spend between $1 to $2 million of his personal money and because of his business and government experience. Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull is seen as his chief rival. The others trail. 

This the Home of New Mexico Politics.