ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The June primary is less than two weeks away. There are a handful of key seats up for election this year, including the Bernalillo County district attorney.

There are two Democrats running for district attorney, and no Republicans are running – so this primary will essentially decide who will take office next year.

The two candidates are current District Attorney Sam Bregman and former U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez. They both have decades of experience in the courtroom and got their law degrees from the University of New Mexico School of Law.

“I have lived in this community for my entire life, I have raised a family in this community, I love the city of Albuquerque, the county of Bernalillo,” Bregman said. “I remember a time when it was a lot safer place than it is today, we are starting to turn the tide when it comes to crime and making it safer. We want to continue to do that work.”

“This is my community, this is where I was born and raised,” Martinez said. “I met my wife at the university. This is where our family is. So I’m seeing things that are happening right now and we can turn this around. We don’t have to accept the status quo.”

Both say crime in Bernalillo County is too high, but they have different perspectives on what is driving crime. Martinez says he wants to focus on fentanyl, while Bregman has been cracking down on gun crimes.

“The fentanyl issue is devastating our community, we have a crisis in crime, we have a crisis in homelessness, we have a crisis in addiction,” Martinez said. “And the way that I’m going to tackle the fentanyl issue is through education, treatment, reentry. Basically, people coming out of jail or prison back into our community, make sure that they’re stabilized. And then prosecution.”

“We want to continue to see a reduction in violent crime, crime is still unacceptable, the amount of it in our community,” Bregman said. “I think we are making a difference. We started a gun team that is focusing on 18-25-year-olds with firearms, we have a DV team up and running.”

Another issue that has garnered attention is the DWI scandal within APD. Bregman said he had to drop more than 150 pending DWI cases and stands by that decision. Martinez said he would have handled it differently.

“The DWI scandal going on right now, I would convene a special grand jury to look into all of the dismissed DWI cases involving the officers in question right now, I understand that there’s nine from public reporting,” Martinez said.

“The credibility of the criminal justice system is more important than any particular case,” Bregman said. “I will do anything I can to protect the credibility of the criminal justice system.”

Both candidates also talked about being tough on crime. Bregman said he is proud of his current track record and said that convictions and pretrial detentions are up since he stepped into the role. Martinez said he believes the office isn’t as tough on crime as it could be.

“Some things that are different between what I would do and what the current district attorney is doing is the sweetheart plea deals,” Martinez said.

“We have been putting things in place that are actually making a difference when it comes to crime and I want to see them through, I want to finish the job we have started,” Bregman said.

KOB 4 asked both candidates how they would react if they were to lose the primary. Both said they will accept the results that come down after the county finishes counting votes on June 4.