Republican Party Chair Steve Pearce is stepping down, but still optimistic New Mexico could flip

Dec. 6—After six years at the helm of the state's Republican Party, Steve Pearce is optimistic the groundwork has been laid for New Mexico to turn red after nearly a decade of Democratic dominance.

But with Pearce set to step down from his role as state GOP chairman, not all Republicans are sad to see him go.

While President-elect Donald Trump won more votes in New Mexico during this year's election than he did in his 2016 or 2020 campaigns, no Republican presidential candidate has won the state's five electoral votes since 2004.

In addition, Democrats retained all three of New Mexico's U.S. House seats in last month's election, and a Republican has not won a statewide race since former Supreme Court Justice Judith Nakamura did so in 2016.

Pearce, a 77-year-old former congressman and state representative from Hobbs, said stability in party structure will be key to flipping New Mexico.

"I've talked at length with the people in Arkansas — that changed from deep blue to deep red overnight — talked to Louisiana, talked to Kentucky, all of those states ... Florida, and all of them say, 'Listen, it's a long-term game,'" Pearce said in an interview.

"When it happens, it'll happen pretty quick, but you've got to build the infrastructure," he added. "So, we've been building infrastructure, and we've got people at all levels that I think can be party leaders for the next 20 years."

However, former gubernatorial and Senate candidate Mark Ronchetti said the change in leadership at the helm of the state GOP could allow the party to focus its energy more on working class New Mexicans.

"Steve Pearce's tenure has too often been characterized by petty grievances and personal vendettas," Ronchetti told the Journal. "A new chairman will have an opportunity to lead the Republican Party in a more productive direction. I look forward to new leadership."

Ronchetti was previously critical of how Pearce and other "party elites" handled a pre-primary convention to determine who would qualify for the ballot during his 2022 gubernatorial campaign.

Who will be the next GOP chair?

Five people are running to replace Pearce, with the new state Republican Party leader to be selected by GOP state central committee members during a Saturday convention in Truth or Consequences.

The contenders for the job are Otero County Commissioner and the party's vice-chair, Amy Barela; Chair of the Valencia County Republican Party Executive Committee John Brenna; Robert Kwasny, who lost a bid for Bernalillo County clerk in the Republican primary; former Army officer Mark Murton; and Mick Rich, who made an unsuccessful bid for Senate in 2018. State Sen. Joshua Sanchez of Bosque withdrew his candidacy for the position last week.

New Mexico Democrats are scheduled to hold their own convention to vote on party officers in April 2025, a spokesman said.

Political winds shifting in NM?

While New Mexico remains decidedly blue, Republicans have been narrowing the voter registration gap in the state.

From June to November this year, Republicans added 30,725 new voters to their ranks, while Democrats added 15,731, according to Secretary of State's Office data.

Pearce also cited increased enthusiasm for early voting among Republicans as another shift. In 2016 and 2020, the majority of early voters were Democrats, which Pearce said hurt Republicans at the polls.

While Trump previously criticized early and mail-in voting for years, both the Trump campaign and the New Mexico Republican Party urged voters to cast their ballots early in this year's election cycle.

"We turned out in great numbers, and a lot of those turnouts were people who had not voted recently and so we were paying attention to that," Pearce said.

But Trump's inroads in most New Mexico counties did not necessarily lift other Republican candidates.

In New Mexico's hotly contested 2nd Congressional District, Republican challenger Yvette Herrell lost to Democratic incumbent Gabe Vasquez by a larger vote margin than she did two years ago, when Vasquez unseated her.

Pearce attributed the discrepancy between Trump's increase in support and Herrell's decline to New Mexico's redistricting in 2021, though the redrawn districts were also in place for the 2022 election cycle.

Looking forward, Pearce said he is not seeking a job in the Trump White House, although he does want to continue helping the Republican party.

He said he is especially interested in cutting government spending or helping with the newly created Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE — initiative that is named after a cryptocurrency, dogecoin, and an internet meme. DOGE will be headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

"They appear to be really shopping deeply and then finding what skillset do we need, and then who can bring that to the table," Pearce said. "So I haven't ruled it out, but I'm also not clamoring for a title or paycheck or position."

Instead, he is looking forward to getting back to regular life in Hobbs.

"This was set up as a country where people are called into public service," Pearce said. "They go and serve, and then they go back home and they live their normal life. We saw that with George Washington. He went back to his farm and lived a quiet life, and I think that structure is magnificent."