In New Mexico, the Double Haters are back in 2026.

Sent to newspapers 9/9/4/2026

Incumbent fatigue is the new black

My generation is famous for disliking everything, each other and ourselves. Call us jaded, cynical, or merely fatalistic, Generation X can sum up 2026 quite neatly: “I told you so.”

Midterm elections typically show some backlash against the incumbents but all indicators point to 2026 being, to quote the late-80s classic film noir Heathers, “very.”

So far, a record number of incumbents have lost their primaries, Republicans more than Democrats: 118 to 42 in legislative primaries. 10 U.S. House members have lost their primaries. 71 members of Congress have opted not to run for re-election – 11 Senators and 60 members of the House.

Perhaps one of the biggest tells that things are going to go badly for the GOP is the spending of the Trump-controlled super PACs. Republican candidates are waiting for the cash to flow from MAGA Inc., the most well-heeled fund with about $400 million cash in hand. Well, that money can also go toward the Trump presidential library, estimated to cost at least a billion to build….and future legal costs.

MAGA Inc. is directly controlled by Donald Trump. The time to be reserving ad buys is now. The Wall Street Journal and other outlets are reporting he is considering just running some spots highlighting his own record. The early signal is that Trump is not going to back a losing horse in November 2026 and potentially waste this wad of cash that he may need on January 21, 2029.

That’s a nice farewell to the GOP Trump singlehandedly destroyed starting in 2015. Well done, sir. Nice job on the federal debt, oil prices, inflation, and the world’s greatest military. I also think the arch is stupid.

Here in New Mexico, incumbent rage is a little more complicated. We never really backed off of the blue wave from the 2018 midterms, where in New Mexico the GOP was wiped out from every statewide office. But even before that, both chambers of the state Legislature had been under Democratic control for a century with a single two-year exception in the House from 2014-2016.

And as a state, we have not prospered. The latest data from Research & Polling shows that only 17% of New Mexicans would rate our economy as “good.” The numbers are more telling among voter behavior in the last 12 months. Voter registration is up 5.9%. Registration of independents is up 15.8% to an all-time high of 27.8%. Democrats and Republicans have lost roughly the same percentage of voters to independents: Democrats losing 5.3%, with a total of 39.7% of registered voters and Republicans losing 4.7% for a total of 30.6% of total registered voters in the state.

New Mexicans are not happy with our state, or our leadership, and they are getting sick of the major parties. But who do we throw out?

It’s been a bad summer for Democrats here as two more state legislator scandals followed closely on the conviction of former Majority Floor Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton on multiple accounts of fraud in Federal court. At the end of August Rep. Joseph Hernandez (D-4) resigned his seat after admitting to scrapping with Chicago police after forgetting his pants and forgetting he was outside his hotel room while attending a conference. Embarrassing, although public nudity isn’t stealing or even a conflict of interest.

Rep. Andrea Romero (D-46) resigned her position on the Truth Commission (essentially a commission to look into Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes in New Mexico) in the First District Attorney’s Office this week after the Attorney General directed her to. She has not resigned her seat. The original issue stemmed from Romero working in a prosecutor’s office, creating a conflict of interest, since as a legislator she is responsible for funding prosecutors’ offices.

The entire situation looked bad from the outset: the Truth Commission was created by the House. Hiring Romero as counsel when she was also a commissioner and the Chair and then making her accountable to the House is one conflict of interest (or three?). The conflict pointed out by the AG is another. Then there is the law firm hired by the commission which donated to Romero’s campaign. Seriously? This is the outfit charged with bringing justice to Epstein’s victims here?

You can stop reading here if you want. Just go find a 50-something you know, put on a black Tshirt and listen to The Smiths until you don’t feel anymore.

Since then, Romero has had to issue an additional apology since she used the Commission’s contracted PR firm to issue her personal resignation statement. It’s not the first time Romero has been accused of mismanaging public resources. She’s pretty good at deflecting pesky little things like this, though. In her statement released through the Commission’s PR firm, she accused the AG of stalling justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.

Romero does not have an opponent in the general election. She defeated two opponents in the primary. Hernandez’ seat will go to Republican candidate Heather Ellison; the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Democratic party cannot field a candidate at this late date.

Fellow Commission members William Hall (R-3) and Andrea Reeb (R-64) have called for Romero’s resignation from the House. They are not wrong. This seems a much bigger deal than forgetting your pants on the way to the ice machine. While Hernandez’ behavior is cringeworthy, one can chalk it up to being drunk. I presume Romero was sober when she applied for and got the position in the DA’s office for the Commission which she happened to chair and then hired the law firm which donated to her campaign. That seems worse.

And there are still the things we don’t have like a functional Children’s, Youth, and Families Department. Or an acceptable high school graduation rate. Or the healthcare professional licensure compacts that would attract more providers to the state. Or an economy that would keep our young people here. That’s 100-plus years of one-party legislation.

So, my fellow New Mexicans, you really have to take a red pen to your ballot this year (actually DON’T – it has to be black or the machine won’t read it). Don’t let your anger at the White House – and I am with you there – make you vote a straight Democratic ticket.

Not every Democrat is an Andrea Romero. But too many are unwilling to buck a machine that demands compliance with unrealistic agendas that block opportunity except for a chosen few.

Politics isn’t a smooth red vs. blue game anymore. Sometimes it is MAGA vs. progressive which is no answer.

The upbeat way to look at this is “people over party.” The Gen X version? Trust no one, but pick the one that will hurt less.

Merritt Hamilton Allen is an executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at merritt@merrittocracy.news.