Valencia County assessor race set with Dominguez Romero in the field

Beverly Dominguez Romero filed for Valencia County assessor on June 25, setting up one of the county’s most consequential November races for homeowners and taxpayers. The office produces the annual property tax roll, notifies property owners of assessed values and keeps ownership records current, work that feeds directly into what residents pay and how land is tracked across Valencia County.

Dominguez Romero is a familiar name in local government. She previously served three non-consecutive terms as county assessor, sat on the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District board and retired from the state Property Tax Division. She now works as gaming manager for the Belen Moose Lodge, and she holds New Mexico Certified Appraiser credentials through the International Association of Assessing Officers. She will face Democrat Torres Leyba and Republican Burgandy Casias for the seat.

The partisan field already showed real competition in the June 2 primary. Leyba received 5,121 votes in the Democratic primary, while Casias won the Republican primary with 2,333 votes, ahead of David A. Hyder’s 1,640 and Celia Dittmaier’s 1,282. That leaves the assessor race as one of the clearest county contests to watch because it sits at the center of New Mexico’s ad valorem tax system, where county assessors handle valuations and the Property Tax Division oversees county tax administration.

The assessor’s office is not just a paperwork stop. It is responsible for notifying property owners when assessed values change, maintaining records and documenting ownership changes recorded in the clerk’s office. For families in Los Lunas, Belen and the unincorporated parts of the county, the next assessor will help shape the tax bills that arrive after November and the records that determine how local property is counted and taxed.

Judicial retention races will also be on the ballot, and they carry less visibility even though they affect criminal cases, family matters and other court decisions that touch county residents every day. Three judges in the 13th Judicial District, which covers Valencia, Sandoval and Cibola counties, are up for retention this year: District Judge James Lawrence Sanchez in Division 1, Christopher George Perez and Amanda Sanchez Villalobos. Under New Mexico’s system, district judges are first elected in partisan contests and later stand for periodic retention elections.

The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission will make recommendations to voters on as many as 45 judges in 2026, including 33 district court judges. New Mexico Courts lists Sanchez, Villalobos and Perez among the judges facing retention, giving Valencia County voters another set of decisions that will shape how local courts operate after the general election.