Target 7 Gets the Facts on claims made in a political ad that link Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull to President Donald Trump.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
As the 2026 gubernatorial election nears, a new political ad targeting Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull is linking him to President Donald Trump. But how true are the claims made in the ad?
The first claim in the ad references a 2019 Trump campaign rally in Rio Rancho, alleging Hull “rolled out the red carpet for him and stuck taxpayers with a bill for $240,000.” Target 7 found this claim partially true but noted missing context. During a GOP gubernatorial debate hosted by the Albuquerque Journal, Hull explained his actions as mayor of Rio Rancho at the time, saying, “I was the duly elected mayor of Rio Rancho and felt that it was my privilege and my honor as the elected mayor of Rio Rancho to be able to welcome the President of the United States to my city without signing a document. We were already rolling out the red carpet. We were providing high-level security. We were making sure that the venue was as safe as it could possibly be.”
The ad cites KOAT’s own reporting from 2019 confirming the $240,000 bill, which Rio Rancho chose not to pass on to the Trump campaign. The city’s then-manager explained the decision, stating, “The City of Rio Rancho’s goal in September 2019 was to prevent damage to property, personal injuries, or lawsuits, all while respecting the rights of rally participants and protesters.” The Santa Ana Star Center, now the Rio Rancho Events Center, received $146,000 from the Trump campaign, with $48,000 of that being net revenue for the venue.
Another claim in the ad alleges Hull would follow Trump’s lead as governor by making deeper cuts to Medicaid, forcing hospital closures, and driving up costs. Target 7 found this assertion misleading. In an April interview with Source NM, Hull discussed Medicaid and Medicare spending, saying, “I would be a big proponent for going in and looking at and making sure that the money we are spending on the Medicaid and Medicare programs are being appropriately spent.” He added, “We’re going to have to look at what resources we do have and manage those in a careful way. If that requires some scaling back, then we’ll have to look at that. If you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money. But our goal would be to make sure that the most vulnerable in the state do get served.” Hull did not specifically state he would make deeper cuts to Medicaid.
The ad also claims Hull called a Trump endorsement “a pretty cool thing.” Target 7 found this quote was taken out of context. During a June appearance on the Santa Fe New Mexican’s “Around the Roundhouse” podcast with Daniel J. Chacon, Hull was asked if he would seek Trump’s endorsement. He responded, “I’ve always said receiving a presidential endorsement, no matter who what it was to be, pretty cool thing for anybody, right? And so, but right now that’s not on the table.”
The ad was not paid for by Hull’s Democratic opponent, Deb Haaland, but by a local PAC called Affordable New Mexico, which registered with the secretary of state this year. Its top contributor is Energy Transfer LP, a Dallas-based natural gas pipeline operator. Energy Transfer LP has also donated at least $28,000 to Haaland’s campaign during both the primaries and the general election according to campaign finance data available on the NM Secretary of State’s website.
A spokesman for Gregg Hull’s campaign sent Target 7 a statement on the claims made in the ad on Tuesday morning. You can read it in full below.
Statement from Ryan Saylor, Spokesman for Hull for New Mexico:
“Democrats are running misleading ads and gaslighting New Mexico voters. Repeating the same false attacks over and over doesn’t make them true. When a president visits, a mayor’s job is keeping people safe, and Gregg took real threats seriously. The Trump campaign paid what it owed to the privately managed facility it leased. The city never billed Presidents Obama, Bush or Clinton for their visits, and billing President Trump alone would have been a double standard. Gregg made the full cost public because he believes his constituents deserve to know exactly how their money is spent. That’s not a red carpet. That’s called being a transparent leader.”
