Democratic prosecutor in crime-torn Albuquerque launches bid for New Mexico governor

SANTA FE, N.M. — A Democratic district attorney in the eye of New Mexico's tempest over crime and accountability launched his candidacy for governor Thursday as the National Guard prepares to deploy to the state's largest city to shore up public safety.

Albuquerque-based District Attorney Sam Bregman — the father of Major League Baseball star Alex Bregman of the Boston Red Sox — is touting his crime-fighting credentials in a city plagued by gun violence as he vies for the party nomination against former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

No Republican has entered the race yet, with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham set to term out of office at the end of next year. Candidates for governor have a February 2026 registration deadline.

Persistently high rates of violent crime in Albuquerque and New Mexico far exceed the national average, and residents were left reeling most recently by a litany of fatal shootings involving youths.

But many voters are no longer shocked and see it more as a confluence of social challenges that will be unavoidable for the next governor, said political analyst Sisto Abeyta, president of Tri-Strategies New Mexico. He pointed to pressing concerns about low-wage jobs, an affordable housing shortage and scarce access to addiction and mental health services.

''The economy equates to crime, housing equates to crime,'' he said. ''Why are there drug addicts? There's not enough mental health" services.

Bregman asserts that law enforcement is starting to turn the tide against crime, and that voters want a governor who can effectively push back against Donald Trump, who lost the vote in New Mexico three times — but narrowed the margin in 2024.

''I think most voters are tired of the radical right, and they're not very receptive to the radical left either — and I'm not either,'' Bregman told The Associated Press. ''Most people want someone who is just going to focus on the same issues that they do when they're at the breakfast table."

That includes wages, health care, education for their kids and whether their neighborhoods are safe, he said.

The centrist political pitch arrives days after the enactment of an election bill allowing independent voters to begin voting in major party primaries. About 23% of registered voters in New Mexico — roughly 310,000 residents — have no party affiliation.

''Many of these younger, unaffiliated voters are disenchanted with the major parties, which is why they're declining to state a party affiliation," Albuquerque-based pollster Brian Sanderoff said. ''Now, all of a sudden, the state's taking away a barrier'' to participation in primaries.

Law enforcement has been prolific ''steppingstone to higher office in New Mexico,'' Sanderoff noted, including the ascendance of former Republican district attorney Susana Martinez to two terms as governor, ending in 2018.

Albuquerque's struggle with crime has made Bregman — a tall, goateed 61-year-old grandfather often seen in a cowboy hat — a fixture of local television news reports. Lujan Grisham has handed Bregman a megaphone on crime policy with his appointment to a task force on organized crime, after appointing him in 2023 as district attorney to succeed Raúl Torrez, now the state attorney general.

Republicans on Thursday took issue with Bregman's record on public safety, arguing that crime has continued to skyrocket under his leadership.

Lujan Grisham called up the National Guard this week in an emergency maneuver to help bolster public safety on Albuquerque's Route 66 corridor at the request of Albuquerque's police chief.

As district attorney, Bregman said he has hired more attorneys, launched a team dedicated to the intersection of guns and violent crime, pushed back against pretrial release of defendants that may pose a danger and secured murder convictions against at least 300 people.

''We have started to turn the tide when it comes to crime in general — still a long road to go,'' said Bregman, a former private defense attorney.