DPLAC to host candidate coffee Saturday as early voting begins May 5

White Rock voters will get an early chance to size up county candidates over coffee at Pig + Fig Cafe on Saturday, just days before Los Alamos County opens absentee voting on May 5. The Democratic Party of Los Alamos County is setting the event from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., a small-format stop that could matter in a primary cycle where local offices, not national themes, are on the line.

The timing is no accident. The county clerk’s election calendar shows absentee voting begins Tuesday, May 5, at the Los Alamos Municipal Building from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Expanded early voting starts Saturday, May 16, at both the Los Alamos Municipal Building and White Rock Town Hall, with those sites open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The last day to request an absentee ballot is May 19, early voting ends May 30, and Election Day is Tuesday, June 2.

The county’s certified primary list, locked in March 17 after filing on March 10, shows a ballot that reaches beyond party labels and into the institutions that shape everyday county life. The primary includes contests for State Representative District 43, County Councilor, County Sheriff, County Assessor, Probate Judge, Magistrate Judge and Municipal Judge. On the county councilor line, voters will see David E. Hampton, Joseph F. Granville, Theresa A. Cull, Steven S. Lynne, Melanee M. Hand and Republican Eric Roland Stromberg. Jason Alan Chappel is also qualified for County Sheriff. Under New Mexico’s semi-open primary system, Decline to State and independent voters may choose one major party primary in 2026.

That makes the coffee event more than a social hour. It is one of the last chances for voters to ask direct questions before the ballots start moving, and the questions that matter are practical: who has a plan for housing, roads, water, property taxes, public safety and the county’s relationship with Los Alamos National Laboratory? In a county where local offices can shape permitting, budgets and law enforcement, the details matter more than slogans.

The White Rock location also carries weight. Residents there often push for more visible political engagement outside downtown Los Alamos, and turnout in the eastern part of the county can help decide races that are won or lost by small margins. The League of Women Voters of Los Alamos is also planning a candidate forum for April 30 and said households will receive its 2026 Voter Guide that same day, giving voters multiple ways to compare candidates before the first ballots are cast. Los Alamos County’s recent turnout numbers show why the push matters: 2,764 voters participated in the 2024 primary, while the 2022 primary drew 3,301 ballots, a 30% turnout among 11,035 registered voters.