Democratic candidates meet with Los Alamos voters at Bathtub Row event

Los Alamos politics got another reminder of its outsized influence when two Democratic statewide candidates stopped at Bathtub Row Brewing Co-Op for a Sunday meet and greet, drawing local attendees, county political figures and voters who closely track how Santa Fe decisions ripple through town.

The gathering featured Sam Bregman, a candidate for governor, and Katharine Clark, a candidate for secretary of state. Photos from the event showed Bregman moving among attendees and Clark speaking with Antonio Maggiore, who is running for Los Alamos County sheriff, a detail that tied the state ticket directly to one of the county’s own contested local races.

That mix matters in Los Alamos, where voters tend to watch more than just partisan labels. The county’s electorate is small, but it is highly engaged and often focused on the practical overlap between state government and daily life here, from public safety and education to how the county positions itself around the laboratory and the steady pressure of growth tied to Lab employment.

For Bregman, the appearance placed a candidate for governor in front of a community that pays close attention to state oversight, fiscal stewardship and the systems that support a national-security economy. For Clark, it brought the secretary of state race into a county that is attentive to election administration and voter access, especially in a place where civic participation is part of the local culture.

Bathtub Row Brewing Co-Op provided a familiar setting for that conversation. The venue is a well-known gathering spot in Los Alamos, and the Sunday event had the feel of a community meetup as much as a campaign stop, with local figures and attendees able to move easily between county concerns and statewide politics.

The event also underscored a larger reality: even as one of New Mexico’s smallest counties, Los Alamos remains a place statewide candidates still need to visit. Its voters are active, politically fluent and quick to connect state leadership to local consequences, whether the issue is the sheriff’s race, the lab economy or the broader question of how Santa Fe will shape the county’s future.