Deb Haaland Wins New Mexico Governor Race, Becomes First Native American Woman Governor in the U.S.

Democrat Deb Haaland won election as governor of New Mexico on Tuesday, defeating Republican Greggory D. Hull. The Associated Press declared Haaland the winner at 10:40 p.m. EST on Nov 3, 2026. NBC News also projected her win.

Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, will be the first female Native American governor of any U.S. state. She will be New Mexico's 33rd governor and will replace fellow Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in Santa Fe. Lujan Grisham is term limited.

The count at the call

The Associated Press election results feed listed the New Mexico governor race, Race ID 32238, as called. In that snapshot, Haaland had 196,617 votes, with 46.82 percent of precincts reporting. That snapshot was the count in the feed when the race was called. Counting continued after the call, so the snapshot is not the final total.

"Thank you, New Mexico! It is the honor of my lifetime to be elected your 33rd Governor," Haaland said, in remarks carried by the Las Cruces Sun-News. The carried text of her statement ended at that point.

Who Haaland is

Haaland, 65, is a citizen of Laguna Pueblo. She served as secretary of the interior under President Joe Biden and became the first Native American to hold a Cabinet seat. Before that Cabinet post, she served as a member of Congress.

Her win adds a second national first to that record. She was the first Native American Cabinet secretary, and she will now be the first Native American woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state.

Who she beat

Hull is a former three term mayor of Rio Rancho, one of New Mexico's largest cities, and a businessman. The Associated Press used the name Greggory D. Hull in its report. Other reports shortened the name to Gregg Hull or Greggory Hull.

What happens next

Haaland takes the oath in January in Santa Fe, according to the reports. She succeeds Lujan Grisham, a fellow Democrat, so control of the governor's office in New Mexico stays with the Democratic Party. The office changes hands from one Democrat to another, but the person holding it makes history on the day she takes office.

The result was one of the governor races called on election night on Nov 3, 2026. In New Mexico, the call came at 10:40 p.m. EST, while precincts were still reporting. The early AP snapshot, 196,617 votes for Haaland at 46.82 percent reporting, shows the race was called before the full count was in, on the strength of the votes counted to that point.