ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – There are 68 days until Decision 2024. While that might seem like a long time, in just a little over two months New Mexicans will not only be voting for the next U.S. president, but they’ll also be voting for four congressional seats in our state.  

All three of our representatives are running for reelection in the House of Representatives. Our Senate seat is also up for grabs.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich is facing off against Republican Nella Domenici. Heinrich has held the seat for two terms since 2013. Domenici is the daughter of longtime New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici. She’s running for the first time.

KOB 4 sat down with both candidates to see where they stand on certain issues: the economy, energy, healthcare, education, crime, and the border.  

Both candidates weren’t afraid to take shots at each other. Heinrich argues he’s brought results for New Mexicans and will continue to do so. Domenici says Heinrich hasn’t delivered and New Mexicans need change. 

ECONOMY

The economy has always been a hot topic, but it’s especially at the forefront since the COVID-19 pandemic. Both candidates say they want to lower the cost of living and expand job opportunities in our state. 

Domenici believes New Mexico could bring more jobs in by lowering regulations and taxes on companies. 

“For our economy to work for everyone, we really need not to have inflation. We need the cost of living to come back down, and we also need to have a state that has less heavy regulation and less heavy taxation, so that companies will want to come here,” Domenici continued. “Biden and Harris and Martin Heinrich, they’ve infused our country with heavy, heavy spending of federal programs, and that’s backfired completely on Americans and driven inflation and driven cost of living.”

Heinrich argues the inflation we’re seeing is a result of the pandemic because supply chains broke, not due to federal spending. 

“What we learned from that is that there are certain things that we need to manufacture here in New Mexico and in the U.S.. That’s how you make sure that wages actually grow faster, rather than slower, than inflation,” Heinrich continued. “I want to continue to grow our job space and our wages here in New Mexico, we’ve had a lot of success in the last couple of years bringing new jobs to New Mexico in clean energy, generation, in manufacturing.” 

ENERGY

Both candidates believe a solution to bringing more jobs could be in energy. 

“We need to take advantage of the wonderful natural resources we have and make sure that those benefits are being unleashed. So, we have good jobs. We have something in our state that’s contributing to support our education, support our government. By unleashing oil and gas, we allow not only New Mexico to prosper, but we allow America to be energy independent,” Domenici said. 

While it might seem like Domenici and Heinrich are on the same page about this, Heinrich’s energy platform focuses more on clean energy; not traditional oil and gas. 

“To continue to invest in the energy transition. New Mexico has been an energy state for as long as we’ve been a state, we should be at the very forefront of that, and we should be creating the jobs of the future, because that that is always going to be changing,” Heinrich continued. “We’re going through a huge energy transition, really, worldwide right now, and I want to make sure that the jobs of tomorrow are the ones that we’re investing in today.” 

HEALTHCARE

When it comes to healthcare, abortion has certainly been a hot topic issue.  

During KOB 4’s sit down with Domenici, abortion wasn’t discussed. According to Domenici’s campaign website, she opposes a federal abortion ban, saying, “As a state, New Mexico has decided this issue. She will abide by the state’s decision. Like most Americans, Nella wants to see fewer abortions, not more.”

Domenici believes the way to have less unintended pregnancies is through better use of birth control and education. 

Heinrich believes the issue will be one of the biggest this election year.

“Protecting reproductive freedom is one of the most important things, I think that is really at risk in this particular campaign in 2024,” said Heinrich. 

When told where his opponent stands, Heinrich argued her stance isn’t clear.

“It’s hard to tell when you’re being financed by the very people who wrote up [Project] 2025* and have had this national agenda for some time. I think what I’ve had is a very clear voting record for standing up for those reproductive rights,” Heinrich said.

*Project 2025 is a political initiative created by the Heritage Foundation that has faced heavy criticism. According to the Associated Press, it is “a massive proposed overhaul of the federal government” drafted by several right-wing and conservative leaders. 

EDUCATION

Education is at the forefront of many residents in our state, as New Mexico is considered to be one of the worst in the U.S..

Domenici says her experience through her organization, Excellent Schools of New Mexico, gives her an understanding of what needs to be done. 

“It’s an organization that helps grow charter schools in some of the poorest, most understood, underserved areas in this state, and it’s hugely impactful,” Domenici continued. “My husband and I have done more for education in this state in seven years through our nonprofit, that is a bipartisan nonprofit comprised of many leaders in this state, but we’ve done more for education than I think Martin Heinrich has.” 

Heinrich argues there’s proof he’s improved education in New Mexico through changing a constitutional amendment.  

“We spent 10 years trying to pass a constitutional amendment that would allow us to spend part of our permanent fund, which is one of the most robust in the world, on pre-K, on early childhood education. We are just now making that happen,” Heinrich continued. “Now we’re seeing pre-K and early childhood childcare that is making it possible for kids to show up to kindergarten ready to learn. That is going to have a bigger impact over the next 20 or 30 years of New Mexico than probably anything else I’ve ever been able to do.”

CRIME

Crime is another topic at the forefront for New Mexicans and Americans alike. Both Domenici and Heinrich spoke about cartels being one of the main issue. 

“The fact is, Albuquerque is filled with crime. No one should deny it. A lot of the crime in Albuquerque is related to cartels, gangs and fentanyl, and the FBI and the federal government is supposed to be helping our city and our state with cartels and fentanyl and Martin Heinrich has failed repeatedly to embrace the FBI and make sure they are here helping Albuquerque fight the cartels,” Domenici said. 

Domenici says if elected, she would work with federal agencies to combat the issue. 

Heinrich says recent legislation from President Biden, like the Fend off Fentanyl Act, is helping lawmakers provide resources for law enforcement. 

“That has given law enforcement more tools to go after the financial resources of the cartels that bring this poison into the United States in the first place. That’s an example of an actual solution,” Heinrich continued. “Another crime solution that’s very near and dear to my heart is I help negotiate the parts of the gun safety bill that we passed in the law that deal with both straw purchases and gun trafficking.”

THE BORDER

Domenici also argues part of the issues we face with crime is at the border we share with Mexico. She says criminals are coming in, committing crimes and bringing in drugs. If elected, she says the border would be one of her top priorities. 

“There are doors there that anyone can open and literally walk through. And about halfway through the state the wall just ends and it’s wide open. So, we should be using state-of-the-art construction and state-of-the-art technology to have a barrier. That’s the most simple first step. And Martin Heinrich failed to do that for this entire duration. He left our border wide open,” Domenici said. 

Heinrich says it depends on where you are.

“There are places where, what they call a pedestrian fence, is absolutely the best solution towards making sure that the border is secure,” Heinrich continued. “There are other places where a combination of technology and being able to actually intercept people is a better solution than basically creating a situation where people are digging under the wall.” 

Just a few weeks ago, Heinrich went down to the border with Rep. Gabe Vasquez to announce $400 million in funding for technology that can detect fentanyl and other contraband. 

Domenici argues it’s too little, too late.

“The fact he’s at the border talking about fentanyl, acting like it’s something new in some area he’s going to focus on is just signs that he’s using this for a political tool. He should have used technology, federal agents, money, whatever it took, to secure that border a long time ago,” said Domenici.

Domenici criticized Heinrich, saying he only went down to the border because we’re close to the election. Heinrich argues he and Vasquez spent years on getting money for the technology.      

“I’ve never seen a $400 million stunt that took years of work from the congressman and I to land those kinds of resources. I’ve been left at the altar three times in major bipartisan negotiations around border security and immigration, it’s time we fix that,” Heinrich continued. “I intend to work to dramatically expand the port of Santa Teresa and make sure it has the smart technologies to really scan and secure that entry point as well.” 

Election Day is Nov. 5. The deadline to register online to vote is Oct. 8. You can register day-of at a polling location. For more information, click here.