2028 Democrats Are Hitting Up New Mexico’s Governor. Here’s What She’s Saying.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says Democrats’ rising stars are suddenly finding her state a lot more enchanting.

Lujan Grisham fought hard to get New Mexico an early spot on Democrats’ 2028 presidential primary schedule. Now, she told POLITICO, she’s fielding calls from potential candidates who may soon start pitching a majority-minority electorate in a border state that’s also a major energy producer — a vastly different voter and issue set from the party’s traditional early states.

In recent weeks, Lujan Grisham said she’s spoken on the phone or texted with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former Ambassador Rahm Emanuel. She talked with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at a recent event. She chatted with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who visited the state last week to fundraise for Democratic candidates, at one of his stops. And she’s in the process of scheduling time with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who she said is also planning to visit the state soon.

She said she discussed a range of topics with the potential presidential contenders, from the state’s plum calendar perch to its demographics to some of her prized policies, like universal child care. Aides to Booker and Emanuel confirmed they each spoke with the governor. Aides for Beshear and Buttigieg declined comment, while aides to Pritzker did not respond.

“This is a testing ground,” Lujan Grisham told POLITICO by phone Sunday, the day after the Democratic National Committee finalized its primary calendar.

The state is slated to vote fourth, on Feb. 15, 2028. It’s a spot that has often helped winnow crowded fields.

“New Mexico means that we can talk about rural economics, we can talk about our wins in health care and child care, smart energy production, and that you put Hispanic voters — the largest, growing voting bloc in America — you can put them front and center of these issues. And that is going to make a difference,” Lujan Grisham said, adding that affordability, public safety and border security also matter to voters in the state whose population is plurality-Hispanic.

“You get those policies right in New Mexico, you’re ready for Latino and Hispanic voters all across the country,” she said.

Lujan Grisham, a former Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair who is term-limited as governor, traveled to D.C. in May, on her fourth wedding anniversary, to personally pitch DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee members on how New Mexico could help Democrats engage earlier with Latino and rural voters. She followed up with thank-you notes and phone calls. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, now the Democratic nominee to succeed Lujan Grisham, separately appealed to DNC members.

“If it wasn't for the governor, I don't know if New Mexico would have made it in,” said Jane Kleeb, who chairs the Nebraska Democratic Party and is a member of the DNC panel that designed the 2028 early primary calendar.

POLITICO spoke with Lujan Grisham twice this week about how the state will shape the next presidential race. Here are excerpts, edited for length and clarity.

What’s the most important thing that you would tell a candidate who’s interested in coming to the state to campaign to focus on? 

Minority voters are not an afterthought. Democrats, in my opinion, have long said ‘this is the backbone of the party,’ but don't really engage them, particularly in the Southwest, until far too late. And that's an issue of respect and relevance, and I'm clear that that has to shift. It should have shifted long before now.

The second thing is, this is a border state. When we talk about border policy, and we do it as an experimental discussion in states that are not border states, that's a problem. … What are you going to do as a candidate or a president to be able to deal with border security successfully in these remote areas like New Mexico and a state like New Mexico that also needs secure, open ports of entry? … [And] you’ve got to talk about public safety.

Is there any sort of candidate you think could do particularly well in a New Mexico primary?

I think it’s wide open. I think it really comes down to folks who can articulate a plan of action. …

We’ll see what the midterms bring. I’m very bullish and optimistic. But then you need a Congress who can deliver. And we're not going to have a supermajority in the Senate, so there are still going to be real challenges to getting legislation passed. They have to be able to talk about what they can do in the absence of a perfect scenario, because there's no such thing. And the candidates who can do that, who can relate to the people who still have hardships, relate as well to the people who have successes, to be respectful to all of those groups and to be able to take that message across the country are going to do really well here, I believe.

What do you think the Democratic Party has to do more in addressing immigration and the border?

I find too many Democrats have only talked about making sure that folks are protected in the country, and they're a little uncertain about what they want to say about border security. Don't be uncertain. Americans want you to have a secure border. … Anybody that feels like you're talking about open borders, I think is problematic. And again, the debates in the country about abolishing one system or another instead of fixing those systems, I don't think they appeal to mainstream American voters. And I think New Mexico is a good place to talk about that.