Valencia County voters get election forum, early voting details

Valencia County voters have a clear next step: early in-person voting for the June 2 primary opens May 5 at the county administration offices in Los Lunas, and the ballot will shape races from county commission to state representative. Before that window starts, the county also has a public meeting and a candidate forum designed to help residents compare choices without spending much or driving far.

Vote early, and know the schedule

The Valencia County Clerk’s Office set a community meeting for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at Meadow Lake Community Center, 100 Cuerro Lane. The point was simple and useful: give voters a place to ask questions before the primary and get help with the mechanics of voting before deadlines start to tighten.

Early in-person voting for the 2026 Primary Election runs May 5-15 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, then May 16-30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. All of it happens at the Valencia County Administration Offices, 444 Luna Ave. in Los Lunas. That schedule matters because the June 2 primary includes county commission, county assessor, sheriff, probate judge, magistrate and state representative races, which means a lot of local power will be decided before summer begins.

What the candidate forum put on the table

A separate candidate forum at the Los Lunas Transportation Center, 101 Courthouse Road, gave voters one more way to compare the people asking for their votes. The forum was scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23, and it was free, open to the public and livestreamed on the News-Bulletin’s Facebook page, which made it easier for working families and voters who could not get across town to follow along.

The forum featured Democrats and Republicans running for Valencia County Commission Districts 1 and 3, County Assessor and State Representative. That mix matters for local readers because county commission decisions shape roads, land use and services, while the assessor’s office affects property valuation and the legislature influences the policy and funding decisions that reach homes, schools and roads across the county. For voters trying to separate names on a ballot from actual priorities, a free public forum is often the fastest way to get context before early voting begins.

Earth Day brings low-cost family plans across the county

The county calendar also offers several free or low-cost ways to spend time outdoors and take care of errands in one trip. The City Nature Challenge ABQ 2026 runs April 24-27 across Bernalillo, Valencia and Sandoval counties, and it asks participants to get outside and upload observations of wild plants and animals to iNaturalist. The event is framed as a community-science biodiversity census, which means a phone camera and a short walk can turn into useful data for scientists and a quick family activity close to home.

Rio Communities packed a lot into its Earth Day Saturday listing at Rio Communities City Hall parking lot on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The morning included DEA National Take Back from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., United Business Bank Shred Day from 8 a.m. to noon, a road cleanup from 8 a.m. to noon, tire recycling from 8 a.m. to noon and a Belen Area Food Pantry distribution from 8 a.m. to noon. A city posting also tied the Earth Day effort to Manzano Express Way cleanup and volunteer needs, so residents who want to help local streets and neighborhoods have a straightforward place to plug in.

Another Earth Day-related stop is Earth Night and Day at Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area. The program includes a guided sunset walk, along with presentations on owls, pollinators, aurora borealis, dark skies and stargazing. That setting carries real local context: Whitfield is a 97-acre riparian and wetlands restoration and education site, and the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District acquired it in April 2003. It is one of the county’s strongest examples of how conservation land can serve both habitat and public education.

There is also a bigger environmental story behind the timing. Earth Day began on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million Americans, about 10 percent of the U.S. population at the time, took part in calls for environmental protection. That history helps explain why county events still pair cleanup work with family-friendly science and outdoor learning.

Belen and Los Lunas add more stops

For readers looking beyond voting and Earth Day, Belen has a few more items on the calendar. The Freedom 250 Truck is described as a nationwide tour and a free mobile museum experience, with interactive exhibits that include an AI-powered George Washington and a digital Declaration of Independence signing. Local organizers listed the stop with the Rio Grande Federated Republican Women, Calvary Chapel Rio Grande Valley and Canon Academy, and the truck was scheduled for the Calvary Chapel Rio Grande Valley parking lot during April 24-26 in some listings, with others narrowing the date to April 24-25.

Two additional community entries round out the countywide mix. The Valencia County Senior Olympics Dance Exhibition is set for the Daniel Fernandez Recreation Center, and Belen also has the Belen Art League’s Spring Art Show plus a Belen High School class reunion. Those events may not carry the urgency of a voting deadline, but they give residents free or familiar places to gather, and they add to a calendar that is unusually full of local options.

Taken together, the week gives Valencia County families a practical path through voting, cleanup work, science outreach and community events without leaving the county. The earliest deadlines are the ones that matter most: the forum has passed, but early voting is next, and the June 2 primary will arrive quickly.