By Pat Davis, NM Political Report — New Mexico’s oil and gas companies give almost twice as much money to Republicans as Democrats, but the head of the industry recently told colleagues Republicans will not be able to win the race for governor this year.
This story was originally published at New Mexico Political Report, a nonprofit news service covering politics and policy in the Land of Enchantment. Learn more and support our work at nmreports.org
“I hate to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but we don’t think a Republican will be able to win in our current political climate, especially in a Trump midterm,” Missi Currier, head of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA), told industry leaders last week. “So, the primary is incredibly important to us.” She encouraged attendees at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota to encourage New Mexicans to vote in the Democratic primary for Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman who is widely seen as more moderate than Deb Haaland, a former Congresswoman and Interior Department secretary who is leading in polling and fundraising in the race. Primary election polls close on June 2. Currier’s comments were originally reported by News From the States and the North Dakota Monitor.
Speaking of Haaland, Currier said, “I’m sure she has a good heart, but she does not have a heart for oil and gas. She is threatening over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state, and knowing that she did not want drilling on public lands, she said in a recent interview that she would keep that same mentality when she came into office.”
Photo by Roberto E. Rosales / City Desk ABQ Credit: Roberto E. Rosales
Responding to the criticism ,Haaland told News From the States that she “understand[s] that oil and gas is a significant driver of revenue and jobs in our state and have said as much. If elected governor, oil and gas will be responsible for cleaning up after themselves and will be good community partners. Protecting our air, land and water does not come at the expense of good paying jobs — we can create more jobs, grow our energy economy and fund our state’s budget.”
A 2026 analysis by New Mexico In Depth of spending by companies and political committees attached to the oil and gas industry found that 64% of industry political spending benefitted Republicans while just 36% benefitted Democrats.