Mitchell keeps district judge seat in election

Area voters decided to retain 10th Judicial District Judge Albert Mitchell Jr. to his post, according to unofficial results Tuesday night from Quay, De Baca and Harding counties.

Republican challenger Melissa Fryzel won by a 3-to-1 margin in Quay County over incumbent Democratic state Sen. Pete Campos in District 8 that encompasses the northern part of the county. Campos, however, was leading overall in his district 55% to 45% in incomplete results.

Quay County voters approved gave President Donald Trump a more than 2-to-1 margin over Democratic challenger Joe Biden, though Biden was declared the winner in New Mexico less than an hour after polls closed, holding an 8-point lead in incomplete results.

Nationwide, the presidential race was too close to call at 10 p.m. Mountain time.

In the judge vote, Mitchell needed 57% of the “yes” votes from those counties to retain his seat on the bench. He received 59% of the affirmative vote in Quay County, and he won by a more than 2-to-1 margin in De Baca County and more than 3-to-1 in his native Harding County.

“I’m happy. I’m grateful for the continued opportunity to serve everybody in the 10th Judicial District,” Mitchell said by phone Tuesday night.

Mitchell attributed his victory to ensuring “I got my message out the way I wanted. It worked out really well.”

When asked about that message, he replied: “I’m a good judge.”

“I work this job really hard, as hard as I know how, for 12 years,” Mitchell elaborated. “I give people a fair hearing, they have access to the courthouse, and I do my best to be impartial. That’s what a judge is supposed to be – fair and impartial.”

In the U.S. Senate race, congressman Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat, lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin in Quay County to Mark Ronchetti, a Republican. Statewide, Lujan held a slim 50% to 47% lead over Ronchetti in incomplete results to take over the seat from retiring Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat.

For U.S. Representative District 3, Quay County voters preferred Alexis Johnson, a Republican, over Teresa Leger Fernandez by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Statewide, Fernandez was leading by 14 percentage points in incomplete results.

In state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals races, Republicans won by more than a 2-to-1 margin the county. Statewide, the Democrats in those races were holding small leads in incomplete results.

In Quay County, voters rejected Constitutional Amendments 1 and 2. The first would have allowed the governor to appoint three professionally qualified members to the Public Regulation Commission instead of voters electing them. The second amendment would have adjusted the terms of non-statewide elected officers. Statewide, however, voters appeared be approving those in incomplete results.

Quay County approved Bond Questions A, B and C, as did statewide voters by wide margins in incomplete results.

Quay County saw a total of 3,900 people vote during the general election for a 64% turnout. That was just shy of the record 65% turnout in the 2008 general election. Quay County’s early voting totals, however, broke the record by more than 400.

Complete results will be in next week’s print edition of the Quay County Sun.