Las Cruces mayor’s race decided in Ranked Choice Voting rounds

At 10:42 p.m. on Election Night, Nov. 7, mayoral candidate Eric Enriquez got the great news.

No, not that he won the election, but that he had a new grandson: Antonio Joseph Enriquez, born in North Carolina to Zachary and Lydia, and named for Eric’s uncle and father.

About an hour later, he got the other news: In the sixth round of Ranked Choice Voting, Enriquez had won the mayoral race, with 7,044 votes to 6,420 for runner-up Kasandra Gandara.

Throughout the evening, as votes were tallied and posted, Enriquez was behind Gandara by a few hundred votes. But as the seven candidates dwindled, when the lowest vote-getters were eliminated and their voters’ other votes redistributed, Enriquez gained ground.

Also gaining ground was third-place finisher Isabella Solis. But in the final round, when Solis was knocked out, her voters’ other votes were re-distributed enough in Enriquez’s favor to sway the victory.

“It’s the ninth inning,” Enriquez said right after the official word. “A true blessing. I just want to thank all of our friends, family, volunteers and, most of all, the voters. The journey was amazing.”

Enriquez, a Las Cruces native and graduate of Mayfield High School and New Mexico State University, spent much of his career working for the Las Cruces Fire Department. He left and spent a few years working for the Hobbs Fire Department before returning to LCFD as fire chief. After retiring from LCFD, he served as assistant city manager for the City of Las Cruces, before retiring from the city altogether.

“I’m proud of the campaign we ran,” he said Election Night. “We were present, we were transparent, and we put ourselves in a position to win.”

Gandara, the mayor pro tempore, first elected the council in 2015, called Enriquez to concede about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“Although it wasn’t the result my team wanted, I am proud of the campaign I can’t thank my team and our citizens (enough) for their support in the last eight years,” Gandara said. “We have done some great things for the city and I am very proud of that.”

Incumbent Mayor Ken Miyagishima who is the longest serving mayor in the city’s history, did not run for a fifth consecutive four-year term.

Other city races

In the District 1 city council race to succeed Gandara, Cassie McClure had 1,119 votes (58 percent) after four rounds of ranked choice voting. Jason Estrada was second with 816 votes (42). Daniel Buck, Patrick Potter and Mark O’Neil were eliminated in earlier rounds. McClure had almost 37 percent of the vote after the first round of ranked-choice voting. Estrada had almost 25 percent, Buck about 22.5 percent and Potter and O’Neill each had about eight percent.

In the District 2 city council race, former Las Cruces mayor Bill Mattiace defeated incumbent Tessa Abeyta 1,229 (51 percent) to 1,175 (49 percent).

Mattiace was mayor 2002-06 and served four years on the council before that. He ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2007, and ran again for mayor in 2019, finishing second in a 10-candidate race.

“Tessa has to be commended,” Mattiace said. “She ran a good race. A really big thank you to the voters, and I want voters on both sides, those who voted for me and those who didn’t, to know I’m here for everyone in the district. I promise to keep the door open.”

In the District 4 city council race, incumbent Johana Bencomo won re-election in the second round of ranked choice voting. She had 1,121 votes (51.4 percent) to 807 votes (37) for Gabriel Duran, Jr. and 254 votes (11.6) for Lorenzo Medina. Ramon Ortega was eliminated after the first round.

Anthony Filosa was the only candidate for municipal judge I. Filosa, currently municipal judge II, succeeds incumbent presiding Municipal Judge Joy Goldbaum, who did not run for a second four-year term. Filosa received 11,258 votes.

Mesilla Board

In Mesilla, Russell Hernandez was elected mayor without opposition, collecting 425 votes (See Page 10). In the race for two seats on the Town of Mesilla Board of Trustees, incumbent Stephanie Johnson received 243 votes (30 percent), Gerald Nevarez received 238 votes (29), incumbent Veronica Garcia received 258 votes (25) and Priscilla Sandoval received 134 votes (16).

LCPS Board

In Las Cruces Board Schools Board of Education races, where there is no ranked choice, incumbent Patrick Nolan was elected to a full four-year term in District 1. Appointed to the board in April, Nolan received 2,103 votes (57 percent) to 1,612 votes (43) for Joseph Sousa.

In District 4, incumbent Teresa Tenorio received 1,444 votes (39 percent) to 1,301 (35) for Julia Ruiz and 991 (27) for Edward Howell.

In District 5, former board member Ed Frank received 1,299 votes (31 percent) to 1,271 votes (31) for incumbent Carol Cooper, 1,015 votes (24) for Jose Aranda and 568 votes (14) for Ernest Carlson. Frank won the seat in 2015 but was defeated by Cooper by 83 votes in 2019.

DACC bond

Voters overwhelmingly passed a $16 million general obligation bond to make improvements at Doña Ana Community College; 14,951 voters (71 percent) voted for the bond. 6,158 (29 percent) voted no.

Voter turnout

The New Mexico Secretary of State’s office said 22,389 (18.3 percent) voters cast ballots in races in five municipalities, three school districts and multiple conservation board races in Doña Ana County. 122,307 voters were eligible.