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One of the most significant recent elections in New Mexico took place in the June 2020 primaries, when five Democrats who opposed abortion rights lost their primaries to more progressive challengers.
One of those was Gabriel Ramos of Silver City. Ramos, who was never elected and was appointed to replace the vacancy left by Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, lost to Siah Correa Hemphill in the Democratic primary in 2020 for Senate District 28 by a wide margin. Correa Hemphill, like others, made support of abortion rights a key part of her campaign.
After the loss, Ramos switched political affiliations to the Republican Party and now seeks a rematch with Correa Hemphill, this time in the general election.
“My values have not changed. What has changed is the divisive agenda of progressive politicians in Santa Fe,” Ramos said in a statement. “They chose politics over helping New Mexicans. They left common sense behind, and they left us behind.”
Correa Hemphill narrowly won the general election in 2020, 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent, over Republican James Williams. But this will be the first election with new district lines after redistricting in 2021, as state senate seats are only up for election every four years.
The state data as part of the redistricting show that SD 28 has a 55.2 percent Democratic performance and 44.8 percent Republican performance, similar to the 54.8 percent Democratic performance and 45.2 percent Republican performance in the district after 2012 redistricting.
Ramos was elected Grant County Clerk at age 25. He also served on the Cobre School Board, Hurley Town Council and the Grant County Commission before his appointment to the state senate.
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