Four-time mayor from border region joins race for governor of New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Competition for the Democratic nomination for governor in New Mexico is heating up as former four-term Las Cruces mayor Ken Miyagishima launched a campaign with a centrist focus on public safety, affordable housing and efforts to shore up the state's health care workforce.
Miyagishima hopes to succeed Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as she terms out of office at the end of 2026 amid public frustration with crime, homelessness and public education.
The Democratic nomination also is being sought by former congresswoman and U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a tribal member of Laguna Pueblo, as well as Albuquerque-based District Attorney Sam Bregman, the father of Major League Baseball star Alex Bregman of the Boston Red Sox. Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull says he will begin campaigning for governor next month. The primary election takes place in June 2026.
Miyagishima won four consecutive elections as 'Mayor Ken' in a fast-growing state university town, set on the Upper Rio Grande amid chili farms and pecan orchards, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of El Paso, Texas, and the southern U.S. border.
'Sure, my last name, it sounds like an obstacle course,' said Miyagishima, who is of Japanese and Mexican heritage. 'But ... trust me to make our community safer, make housing more attainable and bring the best doctors back to New Mexico.'
The mayor of the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez attended Tuesday's campaign announcement, as Miyagishima emphasizes orderly border enforcement and economic cooperation.
At the same time, Miyagishima has voiced qualified support for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to address criminal activity — without unjustly targeting people based on heritage or national background. His U.S.-born father was detained as a child at a World War II incarceration camp for Japanese Americans — and went on to serve in the U.S. Army.
Trump has used the 18th century wartime law to swiftly deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members to a prison in El Salvador, amid court challenges.
'I support protecting the border. I think it's important to have an orderly way to come into the U.S.,' he told The Associated Press. 'To make it a military zone? I don't know.'
Miyagishima, a district manager for a major insurance company, is touting his know-how in government finances and the private sector. If elected governor, Miyagishima said he hopes to make housing more affordable through state-backed loans and an expansion of the construction workforce, including vocational training for people convicted of nonviolent crimes.
He opposed the state's decision in 2021 to legalize recreational cannabis, and now is proposing creation of a state 'metro' police force to augment the capabilities of local law enforcement in crime-torn cities including Albuquerque.
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