TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously reinstated state Rep. Rebecca Dow to the June 2 primary ballot, overturning a lower court order that had disqualified the Republican lawmaker over a formatting dispute in how she submitted electronic nominating petitions.
The ruling came less than an hour after oral arguments before the five-justice court, handing Dow a sweeping legal victory just weeks before the primary and dealing a significant setback to the challenge filed by Democrat Tara Jaramillo, who briefly held Dow’s House District 38 seat while the Republican ran for governor in 2022.
Speaking exclusively with our partners at The Chile Wire shortly after the ruling, Dow said the case laid bare what she called a deliberately complicated filing system.
“For people to be disenfranchised over something that was a technicality — the people in power passed laws that have made it so complicated, and then have a broken system that disenfranchises voters — I lost a lot of sleep over this,” she said. “I’m so happy that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of democracy.”
Dow, who serves as House Republican Caucus chairwoman, is the third-highest-ranking GOP member in the chamber. District 38 spans portions of Doña Ana, Sierra and Socorro counties, including Truth or Consequences and Elephant Butte, and has been represented by a Democrat for only two years since 1969.
Background
Jaramillo filed a court challenge in early April, alleging Dow had improperly submitted screenshots of electronic petition signatures rather than the physical nominating petition required under state law. A Las Cruces district judge sided with Jaramillo and removed Dow from the ballot. Dow appealed immediately to the state’s highest court.
At the center of the case was a 2023 statutory mandate requiring the Secretary of State to promulgate rules governing electronic petition submissions — rules that were never written. Dow’s attorney, Carter Harrison, argued before the justices that the law spells out what must be done but is silent on any remedy when it is not done perfectly, and that the district court had no statutory basis to remove a certified candidate from the ballot.
Justices also noted from the bench that Jaramillo’s challenge did not contest the validity of a single signature Dow had gathered — only the format of the submission.
Dow said she navigated the filing process by relying on guidance from the Secretary of State’s hotline and the Sierra County Clerk’s office, and that the clerk certified her petitions before any legal challenge was filed.
“I relied on the hotline of the Secretary of State’s office. They assisted me through the entire process, including printing. I walked into a clerk’s office who said, ‘Yes, this is correct. I see your petitions, and the numbers match,’” Dow said. “And then to try to use that as an election loophole — it was a gotcha.”
An expert witness — a mobile app developer retained by Dow to testify about how the Secretary of State’s system interfaces with different browsers and devices — was not permitted to testify at the district court level, she said. Her candidate portal was deactivated the day after her filings.
“We subpoenaed the Secretary of State and had her compelled to open up my account so it could be reviewed — to see the 120-some-plus people who signed my nominating petition, well over double what I needed,” Dow said. “The district judge quashed those requests.”
Not her first challenge
Dow said Tuesday’s ruling was not the first time she has faced legal action over her candidacy. The state Democratic Party filed against her when she first ran for the seat in 2016. Following the 2020 redistricting cycle, she was drawn into the same district as House Republican Leader T. Ryan Armstrong and moved across Truth or Consequences to re-establish residency in District 38.
“I moved a couple miles — from the west side of town to the east side — to get the seat back,” she said. “I’m proud to be elected by Democrats and Republicans in a swing seat. That kind of district really requires me to engage with voters and know what the issues are.”
The Supreme Court victory does not end her electoral battle. Dow will run unopposed in the June 2 Republican primary but faces a competitive general election in November, with a Democratic write-in candidate already in the district. Her opponent, Jaramillo, is expected to seek the Democratic nomination.
“I still have to fight to win in November,” Dow said. “But for the people in power, the people in the super-majority, to say they don’t even want a choice on the ballot — just shows how far left the state has gone.”
Broader implications
Dow said the case exposed a systemic problem affecting candidates across the state, and she described a wave of calls she received from other candidates after word of her removal spread. She cited the example of Rep. Mark Duncan, who she said registered a trailer at the Motor Vehicle Division mid-filing and found that his legal name had been altered in the state system — from “P. Mark Duncan” to “Patrick M. Duncan” — creating an immediate mismatch with his nominating petitions.
“There are problems all over the state,” she said. “Any person who wanted to walk in, sign up to be a candidate today and did not have an election lawyer to maneuver the system could easily be disenfranchised and removed from the ballot without ever having a chance for a voter to choose.”
Dow said she intends to pursue fixes through rulemaking or legislation, and called the ruling an opportunity for both parties to address deficiencies in the candidate filing process.
“I hope this is a moment of unity,” she said. “What does the average New Mexican want? They want common sense. They want elections to be fair and transparent.”
Party reaction
Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela issued a statement praising the ruling as a “victory for fairness, election integrity and the rule of law.” Dow credited party attorney Carter Harrison for representing her at no cost to her campaign.
“The Republican Party called right away and said, ‘What can we do?’” Dow said. “Carter Harrison represented me, and I didn’t have to take a dime out of my campaign — money donated from constituents who want to see me get out the vote and listen to the district. That’s the first insight into how important unity is.”
Dow used the interview to argue the stakes in November extend well beyond her own race, pointing to registration trends she said signal a broader public discontent with the state’s Democratic supermajority. She said more than 18,000 New Mexicans shifted to independent or decline-to-state status during the current cycle while Democrats netted 11 new registered voters.
“Eighteen thousand went to independent decline, and Democrats netted 11 new voters this far into the cycle,” she said. “That should speak volumes.”
The ruling means the Secretary of State’s office must include Dow’s name on ballots for the June 2 primary. The office had indicated last week it was prepared to mail ballots to military and overseas voters without her name while her appeal remained pending.
