As Election Day Nears, NMiF Examines the Races for CD1 and SOS

We’ve reached the sprint to the end of our month-long election coverage here on New Mexico in Focus, with early voting already well underway and Election Day less than two week out. Tonight’s episode marks the second-to-last before that fateful Tuesday, Nov. 3, and we’re spending our waning moments before results roll in diving into the remaining two congressional races — CD1 and CD3 — and the contest to replace Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who’s served as New Mexico Secretary of State for the last decade.

First up this week, we dive deep into the race for the 1st Congressional District — a seat that Democratic U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury has held since a special election back in 2021. Since then, the Congresswoman has earned prominence at home and in D.C. as a visible and vocal critic of the Trump Administration, maybe most notably for demanding the full and timely release of the Epstein Files. She’s up against Republican challenger, Rio Rancho-based pharmacist Ndidiamaka “Didi” Okpareke, who’s brand new to the political scene. And while an Albuquerque Journal poll earlier this month had Stansbury 18 points ahead, Okpareke has garnered considerable praise from local politicos and excitement among her base as of late, thanks in large part to her performance at a debate on KOAT.

While my conversation with Stansbury kicks off with questions about her record serving on the Oversight and Natural Resources committees, I begin my interview with Okpareke discussing her preparedness to serve in Congress. I spend the rest of my time with each candidate seeking to better understand their platforms and priorities. You’ll hear some significant differences in how they view Medicaid and SNAP, President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” solutions to the affordability crisis, and more. That said, Okpareke breaks with her party’s leaders on several key issues, including the war in Iran and AI regulation.

Politics Correspondent Gwyneth Doland helps us round out this week’s program with the Democratic candidate for New Mexico Secretary of State, Amanda López Askin. Harkening back to how I began this letter, we’re running out of time to preview this year’s races, so we had to make some tough calls. Until now, we’ve presented both candidates for each race in the same show. We couldn’t do that this time. But rather than scrapping the SOS race completely, we decided to air our candidate interviews across two episodes. So, this week you’ll hear from the Doña Ana County Clerk, who’s up first because of her sizable lead in both polls and fundraising. Next week, you’ll get to know her Republican opponent, Ramona Goolsby — a political outsider who’s spent years challenging state and local elections systems.

Along with Goolsby next week, we’ll close out our month of candidate interviews with the politicians vying for New Mexico’s Congressional District 3. And that’ll be a wrap on NMiF election coverage 2026! Until results post just days later, of course, and we’re back at the table to unpack it with you. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves — with 11 days till Election Day, we’ll see you tonight!

-Nash Jones, Host