Hull gains after voters learn Rio Rancho record, new poll shows
Hull's campaign says a statewide poll moved from a tie to 49%-43% after voters heard about his Rio Rancho record, a key Sandoval County test.
Gregg Hull's campaign said a statewide INFORMED ballot poll moved him from a statistical tie to 49%-43% after voters were told about his record in Rio Rancho on public safety, education and jobs. The change matters because Hull, the former Rio Rancho mayor, is trying to turn a Sandoval County governing résumé into statewide support in New Mexico's open 2026 governor's race.
Hull won the Republican nomination in the June 2 primary, while former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defeated Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman for the Democratic nomination. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is term-limited, and Cook Political Report lists the contest as open, putting this fall's race at the center of the state's next power shift.
Hull served as Rio Rancho mayor from 2014 to 2026, giving him a long record that is familiar to voters in Sandoval County and less so elsewhere in New Mexico. His campaign website says he is running because he believes the state can be improved by applying lessons from Rio Rancho, and his campaign has used that local record to frame him as a manager with experience, not just a party nominee.
The message tested in the INFORMED poll matched that strategy closely. Hull's campaign said the numbers improved only after voters were exposed to a description of his Rio Rancho record on public safety, education and jobs, which suggests the campaign sees his local tenure as its strongest statewide selling point. That same framing also leaves Hull with a harder task outside his home base: convincing voters who did not watch him govern City Hall that his experience in Rio Rancho translates to Santa Fe.
Coverage from Source New Mexico has said Hull's priorities include improving education, addressing CYFD and bolstering health care, issues that will likely define how he is judged beyond Sandoval County. KRQE reported Hull announced his campaign on Oct. 14, 2025, and New Mexico Political Report said he first signaled his interest in the race in April 2025 before formally entering it later that year. By June 5, PBS New Mexico was already airing "Haaland, Hull Win Nominations for Governor," underscoring how quickly the campaign moved from local launch to statewide contest.
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