09/18/2026
🚨ENDORSEMENTS MATTER🚨
Endorsements give voters another piece of information to consider alongside each candidate’s experience, record, and positions, and in some cases, who they take their marching orders from.
Michael Perry has been endorsed by hardworking New Mexicans whose backgrounds include ranching, wildlife management, law enforcement, county government, education, and service in the New Mexico Legislature. Those supporters include Bronson Corn, Jeff Bilberry, Allen Perez, Ralph Ramos, Malin Parker, Kyle Jackson, and State Representative Jack Chatfield.
Juan de Jesus Sanchez III’s publicly identified supporters include Democratic U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, Democratic U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez, teachers’ and labor unions, and environmental and conservation organizations. Sanchez himself previously spent five years as Heinrich’s political director and later served as deputy campaign manager for Heinrich’s 2024 reelection campaign. None of these groups or individuals have vested time or experience in the state land office, and many of them hold agendas that are focused on political or financial gain, not the wellbeing and improvement of New Mexican lands.
Sanchez has also benefited from independent outside spending. During the Democratic primary, a Virginia-based renewable-energy super PAC purchased communications supporting him, while another expenditure-only PAC supporting Sanchez reported substantial contributions from companies including Chevron, Devon Energy, NextEra Energy, and MMR Group.
Those facts give voters something concrete to examine: who is supporting each candidate, where those supporters come from, and what interests and experiences they represent.
Read the candidates’ own materials and compare their records
