EXPRESSING THEIR PLANS FOR THE GUBERNATORIAL SEAT. REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL DEBATE HOSTED BY OUR PARTNERS AT THE JOURNAL ON FRIDAY. FORMER THREE TERM RIO RANCHO MAYOR GREG HULL DOUG TURNER AND DUKE RODRIGUEZ FACING OFF ON VARIOUS CONCERNS. TOP OF MIND FOR NEW MEXICANS. I WILL FIX CRIME. I WILL GET YOU TO UNDERSTAND AND BELIEVE THAT CRIME CAN BE DEALT WITH BY REDUCING POVERTY. REDUCING POVERTY MEANS TO IMPROVE OUR ECONOMY, AND WE NEED A GOVERNOR THAT’S GOING TO BE FOCUSED ON OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR STATE. AND NOBODY KNOWS THAT BETTER THAN A MAYOR THAT HAS SERVED FOR 12 YEARS WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES. CAN WE COME AND WORK ACROSS THE AISLE ON ISSUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO EVERYBODY? AND THAT’S REALLY MY COMMITMENT. WE’RE MISSING SOME BALANCE IN OUR GOVERNANCE IN THE STATE. ALL THREE VOWING TO VOTERS THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO LEAD OUR STATE FROM CRIME TO PUBLIC SAFETY, THE ECONOMY AND HEALTH CARE. NEW MEXICO HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST POVERTY RATES IN THE NATION. WITH THE RISING COST OF GASOLINE, AFFORDABILITY HAS GOTTEN WORSE FOR MANY. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS TO HELP NEW MEXICANS MAKE ENDS MEET? YOU RAISED A GREAT POINT. I ACTUALLY THINK WE OUGHT TO HAVE A TAX. HOLIDAY. GAS TAX HOLIDAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF NEW MEXICO. UNTIL THE PRICE OF GAS LEVELS OUT TO 353 30. WHATEVER THE PREWAR PRICE IS, WE HAVE THE CASH TO DO IT. SINCE TAXPAYERS ARE ALREADY PAYING FOR IT AT THE PUMP. I WANT TO GO TO A TAX ELIMINATION. IF YOU ARE COMMITTED TO HELPING NEW MEXICO FAMILIES TO MAKING THINGS MORE AFFORDABLE, IT MEANS VERY SIMPLY PUTTING MORE MONEY BACK IN THEIR POCKETS. RESPONSIBLE TAX REFORM IS THE BEST WAY TO PUT MONEY BACK INTO PEOPLE’S POCKETS. AND I THINK THE LOW HANGING FRUIT IN NEW MEXICO IS THE NEW MEXICO INCOME TAX. I THINK THAT’S SOMETHING THAT OTHER STATES HAVE FIGURED OUT HOW TO ELIMINATE. AND IT’S THE QUICKEST WAY TO KEEP MONEY IN PEOPLE’S POCKETS BY NOT DEDUCTING IT FROM THEIR CHECKS. ON SUNDAY, THE JOURNAL POLL FOUND 30% OF VOTERS PLAN TO CAST THEIR BALLOT FOR HALL IN THE OP
Partners for Impact: New Mexico GOP gubernatorial candidates debate ahead of open primary
On Friday, former three-term Rio Rancho mayor Gregg Hull, Doug Turner and Duke Rodriguez faced off in a series of questions on issues affecting New Mexico
The Albuquerque Journal, KOAT Action 7 News, and News Radio KKOB, collectively known as “Partners for Impact,” hosted the Republican gubernatorial open primary debate held at The Journal’s auditorium on Friday, May 8, 2026. Secretary of State: New Mexico Primary Election voter guideThree-term mayor of Rio Rancho Gregg Hull, business owner Doug Turner and former New Mexico Cabinet Secretary and Cannabis CEO Duke Rodriguez faced off in a series of questions on issues affecting New Mexico which include crime, public safety, health care and the economy. The Journal offered a debate to Democratic Candidates, frontrunner Deb Haaland and Sam Bregman. However, Haaland declined to debate. Both have agreed to do town hall events with The Journal instead.Watch FULL debate below:Panelists Santa Fe Bureau Chief and Chief Political Journalist for Albuquerque Journal, Dan BoydAlbuquerque Journal opinion editor, Ryan BoetelKKOB News Director, Zoltan CsanyiKOAT Journalist, Faith EgbuonuCommitment 2026: Hotly-contested gubernatorial race underway for New Mexico open primaryFaith Egbuonu: New Mexico has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation—with the rising costs of gasoline, affordability has gotten worse for many. What are your plans to help new Mexicans make ends meet?Doug Turner: You raise a great point and it’s something I’ve actually been thinking about quite a bit lately with the rising cost of gasoline. The first thing you know that I think we need to realize with respect to fuel prices is that the legislature recently added a 21-cent-per-gallon tax on top of the taxes that we already pay for fuel.With the war in Iran right now, the state has earned an additional $320 million in revenue off of the price of oil as the price of oil rises, the amount of money that the state earns from that rises as well. I actually think we ought to have a tax holiday, a gas tax holiday for the people of New Mexico until the price of gas levels out to $3.50, $3.30, whatever the pre-war prices were. We have the cash to do it since taxpayers are already paying for it at the pump. I think that’s something we ought to be doing.Regarding poverty, you’re not wrong but we have some of the most regressive gross receipts, taxes in the nation here. We’re the 8th highest tax burden state in the United States. So we can work to to eliminate our gross receipts tax, and make it more palatable, for people who can least afford to pay it.Duke Rodriguez: I want to go way beyond a tax holiday. I want to go to a tax elimination. If you are committed to helping New Mexico families, to making things more affordable, it means very simply putting more money back in their pockets and that’s not about one time checks. That’s making sure that it’s less expensive at the gas pump, their cell phone, their groceries, which we address, and everyday purchases.That’s why I advocate put more money back into people’s pocket. Don’t allow health insurance policies to be issued with five and $10,000 deductibles. The governor has the ability to influence those policies. Limit gross receipts tax by eliminating on all retail sales. That immediately puts money back in New Mexico family’s pockets. Rely on every year. Imagine how every New Mexican would feel today if they never had to fill out another state personal income tax return, lower their property tax.Quit talking about playing around the pretty edges that are politically satisfying. Do the things that put money back in their pocket every day, every week when they can see it instead of waiting for it —Am I going to get a check this year ?Commitment 2026: New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull leads in GOP primary pollGregg Hull: Responsible Tax reform is the best way to put money back into people’s pockets. And I think the low hanging fruit in New Mexico, is the New Mexico income tax. I think that’s something that other states have figured out how to eliminate. It’s the quickest way to keep money in people’s pockets by not deducting it from their checks. People work hard for their money. When you look at the various different taxing entities throughout the state, whether it’s personal income tax, gross receipts tax or property tax, the least complicated of all of those is the personal income tax. The other two get very complicated because they tie into local municipal operations, they tie into school district funding, they tie into a lot of different things that when you go to reform those, there has to be a very thoughtful way that you take you take an approach to those things, not just, slice and dice and throw, cut in and hope that it works out.As a mayor, I’ve seen this, through hole harmless with the gross receipts tax and how it’s impacted the revenues of cities. And when those revenues are taken away, it’s impossible to appropriately pay your police and firefighters. So you want to make sure that you’re not compromising public safety, compromising services. So in this particular case, putting money back into people’s pockets. Now with the windfall that we’re seeing from the oil and gas revenue because of the inflated prices in the price of a barrel of oil, I believe that looking at how we can invest that in a way that helps lower costs for New Mexicans, it is a windfall. It is new Mexicans money. Democrats candidates for Gubernatorial raceBernalillo County District Attorney, Sam BregmanFormer U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Deb HaalandRepublicans candidates for Gubernatorial raceThree-term mayor of Rio Rancho, Gregg HullBusiness owner, Doug TurnerFormer New Mexico Cabinet Secretary and Cannabis CEO, Duke RodriguezNote: Former Las Cruces mayor and gubernatorial candidate Ken Miyagishima will not be on June’s open primary ballot. He is running as an Independent. Miyagishima withdrew from the Democratic primary in February 2026. The General Election is on November 2, 2026. The New Mexico open primary is set for Tuesday June 2, 2026.Stay updated on the latest from the 2026 Gubernatorial race on the KOAT app. Download here
The Albuquerque Journal, KOAT Action 7 News, and News Radio KKOB, collectively known as “Partners for Impact,” hosted the Republican gubernatorial open primary debate held at The Journal’s auditorium on Friday, May 8, 2026.
Secretary of State: New Mexico Primary Election voter guide
Three-term mayor of Rio Rancho Gregg Hull, business owner Doug Turner and former New Mexico Cabinet Secretary and Cannabis CEO Duke Rodriguez faced off in a series of questions on issues affecting New Mexico which include crime, public safety, health care and the economy.
The Journal offered a debate to Democratic Candidates, frontrunner Deb Haaland and Sam Bregman. However, Haaland declined to debate. Both have agreed to do town hall events with The Journal instead.
Watch FULL debate below:
Panelists
- Santa Fe Bureau Chief and Chief Political Journalist for Albuquerque Journal, Dan Boyd
- Albuquerque Journal opinion editor, Ryan Boetel
- KKOB News Director, Zoltan Csanyi
- KOAT Journalist, Faith Egbuonu
Commitment 2026: Hotly-contested gubernatorial race underway for New Mexico open primary
Faith Egbuonu: New Mexico has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation—with the rising costs of gasoline, affordability has gotten worse for many. What are your plans to help new Mexicans make ends meet?
Doug Turner: You raise a great point and it’s something I’ve actually been thinking about quite a bit lately with the rising cost of gasoline. The first thing you know that I think we need to realize with respect to fuel prices is that the legislature recently added a 21-cent-per-gallon tax on top of the taxes that we already pay for fuel.
With the war in Iran right now, the state has earned an additional $320 million in revenue off of the price of oil as the price of oil rises, the amount of money that the state earns from that rises as well. I actually think we ought to have a tax holiday, a gas tax holiday for the people of New Mexico until the price of gas levels out to $3.50, $3.30, whatever the pre-war prices were. We have the cash to do it since taxpayers are already paying for it at the pump. I think that’s something we ought to be doing.
Regarding poverty, you’re not wrong but we have some of the most regressive gross receipts, taxes in the nation here. We’re the 8th highest tax burden state in the United States. So we can work to to eliminate our gross receipts tax, and make it more palatable, for people who can least afford to pay it.
Duke Rodriguez: I want to go way beyond a tax holiday. I want to go to a tax elimination. If you are committed to helping New Mexico families, to making things more affordable, it means very simply putting more money back in their pockets and that’s not about one time checks. That’s making sure that it’s less expensive at the gas pump, their cell phone, their groceries, which we address, and everyday purchases.
That’s why I advocate put more money back into people’s pocket. Don’t allow health insurance policies to be issued with five and $10,000 deductibles. The governor has the ability to influence those policies. Limit gross receipts tax by eliminating on all retail sales. That immediately puts money back in New Mexico family’s pockets. Rely on every year. Imagine how every New Mexican would feel today if they never had to fill out another state personal income tax return, lower their property tax.
Quit talking about playing around the pretty edges that are politically satisfying. Do the things that put money back in their pocket every day, every week when they can see it instead of waiting for it —Am I going to get a check this year ?
Commitment 2026: New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull leads in GOP primary poll
Gregg Hull: Responsible Tax reform is the best way to put money back into people’s pockets. And I think the low hanging fruit in New Mexico, is the New Mexico income tax. I think that’s something that other states have figured out how to eliminate. It’s the quickest way to keep money in people’s pockets by not deducting it from their checks. People work hard for their money.
When you look at the various different taxing entities throughout the state, whether it’s personal income tax, gross receipts tax or property tax, the least complicated of all of those is the personal income tax. The other two get very complicated because they tie into local municipal operations, they tie into school district funding, they tie into a lot of different things that when you go to reform those, there has to be a very thoughtful way that you take you take an approach to those things, not just, slice and dice and throw, cut in and hope that it works out.
As a mayor, I’ve seen this, through hole harmless with the gross receipts tax and how it’s impacted the revenues of cities. And when those revenues are taken away, it’s impossible to appropriately pay your police and firefighters. So you want to make sure that you’re not compromising public safety, compromising services.
So in this particular case, putting money back into people’s pockets. Now with the windfall that we’re seeing from the oil and gas revenue because of the inflated prices in the price of a barrel of oil, I believe that looking at how we can invest that in a way that helps lower costs for New Mexicans, it is a windfall. It is new Mexicans money.
Democrats candidates for Gubernatorial race
Republicans candidates for Gubernatorial race
Note: Former Las Cruces mayor and gubernatorial candidate Ken Miyagishima will not be on June’s open primary ballot. He is running as an Independent. Miyagishima withdrew from the Democratic primary in February 2026. The General Election is on November 2, 2026.
The New Mexico open primary is set for Tuesday June 2, 2026.
Stay updated on the latest from the 2026 Gubernatorial race on the KOAT app. Download
