Valencia County sheriff race heads to Montano-Rowland showdown

Valencia County voters left control of law enforcement, county spending priorities and several commission seats hanging on a final canvass, with the sheriff’s race now headed toward a Montano-Rowland general election matchup and a handful of other contests still close enough to matter.

Alan Fredrick Montano led the Democratic primary for sheriff with 2,993 votes to Gabriel Trujillo’s 2,530. On the Republican side, Joseph Eugene Rowland finished first with 3,075 votes, ahead of Preston Wade Smith at 1,525 and Kevin Marcos Vega at 721. Those totals set up a November race that will determine who takes over a key county office and who shapes day-to-day public safety decisions across Valencia County.

The seat is open because Denise Vigil could not seek reelection after serving her second term. Vigil first won the office in 2018, and she was previously identified as the first woman to hold the sheriff’s post in Valencia County. She switched from Democrat to Republican in November 2020, saying at the time that she was concerned about legislation affecting law enforcement. That history gave the race added weight in a county where voters were also deciding who would control the commission and influence the budget that supports the sheriff’s office.

The June 2 primary drew 24.41 percent turnout statewide, with 343,768 ballots cast out of 1,408,185 eligible voters, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s unofficial results page. In Valencia County, the margins in several races were thin enough that recount rules could become relevant if final margins remain within the state thresholds for automatic review. For many local offices, that trigger is 1 percent, and some countywide races in larger counties use a 0.5 percent threshold.

Nothing is final until the Valencia County Commission and the Secretary of State complete canvassing. That matters in District 3, where incumbent Republican Morris Sparkman trailed Sharon Smith by 25 votes, a margin that could shift as ballots are certified. District 1 was also crowded on the Republican side, with Helen Saiz, Christopher Williams and Christopher Garcia separated by a relatively small spread. Sharalaina Piro-Rael ran unopposed on the Democratic side and finished with 1,154 votes. Helen Saiz brings prior commission experience, having served one term, while Gerard Saiz, the current District 1 commissioner, was term-limited after two consecutive terms.

The assessor race also stayed competitive, with Torres Leyba leading the Democratic side and Burgandy Casias, incumbent Celia Dittmaier and David Hyder splitting the Republican vote. The probate judge contest between Pedro Rael and incumbent Wendy Wallace also remained close enough to keep attention on the final count. Along with sheriff and the two commission seats, voters also weighed assessor, probate judge and all three magistrate judge divisions, setting the stage for a November ballot that will determine who holds county power after the canvass is complete.