ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Vice President Kamala Harris praised President Biden less than 24 hours after the news broke he was dropping out of the race and endorsing her for the White House.

KOB 4 spoke to New Mexicans and there are a lot of mixed views. Many agree it was time for Biden to drop out of the race. But when it comes to going to the polls this November, there’s uncertainty on who New Mexicans will vote for. 

So what role could New Mexico play in the election if a lot of voters are undecided right now? According to political analysts, New Mexico could sway this election. This November, New Mexicans won’t just be choosing the next commander in chief, our three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and one U.S. Senate seat are up for grabs. 

Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich is running for reelection against Republican Nella Domenici, the daughter of longtime New Mexico U.S. Senator Pete Domenici.

New Mexico’s three representatives: Melanie Stansbury, Gabe Vasquez, and Teresa Leger Fernández are all running for reelection. That means the New Mexico delegation could become a purple mix, should four Republicans win and join Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan in Washington.

The last time New Mexico leaned mostly right was in the 2004 election. New Mexico has five electoral votes, which in a tight race could make all the difference. 

The New Mexico Republican Party believes our state could flip.  

“The polls are showing that Martin Heinrich is just probably down even with Nella Domenici and President Trump might be running a couple of points ahead of Joe Biden. And generally, this far away from the elections [is] kind of a generic,” said New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce. “In other words, by that they may have been on the poll, but I think that it would be reflective of no matter which name they put Vice President Harris or whoever. And so right now, New Mexico is more in play than what anybody thought it might be six months ago.” 

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of New Mexico believes New Mexicans will continue to vote blue. Historically, Democrats have won several elections in our state. 

“Democrats already have the campaign infrastructure in place to keep New Mexico blue, and we’ve already been hearing from Democrats who are asking how they can be more involved,” said Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair Jessica Valasquez. “I think it’s safe to say that here in New Mexico, we’re running against the same extreme MAGA Trump-Vance ticket that is completely out of touch with the people of New Mexico. Trump has proven to be incapable of governing effectively in the past, and the positionality is far too extreme for everyday New Mexicans.” 

While leaders of the New Mexico’s Republican and Democratic parties believe voters will sway their respective directions, political analysts argue it’s not so black and white. 

UNM Law Professor Joshua Kastenberg says it could go either way.  

“Because Trump is the nominee and running for president. I think our one very competitive congressional district could easily go red, but could also easily stay blue. It’s hard to know what this will do. We don’t even know how the Republicans are really going to respond to a Harris candidacy,” said UNM Law Professor Joshua Kastenberg.

As for the presidential ticket, UNM Political Science Professor Tim Krebs believes New Mexico won’t flip red. 

He says usually the top candidates impact state races, but he just doesn’t see New Mexicans choosing Trump this November. He also doesn’t think it’ll impact local candidates either. 

“I don’t see the state voting for the Republicans at the presidential level, and so even though the so-called coattails might be shorter in this election cycle, I don’t think they’re going to be so short as to cause problems for Heinrich and other down ballot Democrats. I think the Democrat, whoever the Democrat, is, you know, in the end, is going to carry in New Mexico,” said Krebs. “It may make it a little bit more complicated, a little bit more difficult for down ballot Democrats, but I don’t think it’s going to be devastating to them at all.”

The election is just 105 days away, so for now, it’s a waiting game to see how New Mexicans will make their voices heard.