The Libertarian Party of New Mexico, a state affiliate of the Liberal Party USA, says key gaps in the Republican ticket this year could create an opening for its candidates, including in the U.S. Senate race and a statewide contest for auditor.
In a recent roundup, Source New Mexico reported that state Chair Chris Luchini believes the party’s candidates could benefit from two races where they would be the only names on the ballot aside from Democratic candidates. He said expected crossover voting from Republicans could help the party regain major party status, which it lost following the 2024 election cycle when its presidential ticket fell well short of the vote threshold required under state law.
The party is petitioning to place Rhett Trappman on the ballot for U.S. Senate and Jason Vaillancourt for auditor. It is also fielding Stephen Curtis for a seat on the Court of Appeals.
The Libertarian Party of New Mexico is not affiliated with the Libertarian National Committee, despite the article referring to it as the Libertarian Party. The party recognized by the Libertarian National Committee in New Mexico operates as the Free New Mexico Party under Chair Derek Scott.
The Libertarian Party of New Mexico disaffiliated from the Libertarian National Committee in 2022, with both organizations taking separate actions to sever ties, and later became a founding member of the Liberal Party USA. The national Liberal Party refers to the state affiliate as the Liberal Party of New Mexico on its website, but the state group otherwise continues to use the Libertarian name and is engaged in an ongoing legal dispute with the Libertarian National Committee over its use of that name.
The following excerpt was originally published by Source New Mexico on April 17, 2026 and is republished here under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Any views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Political Report or the Outsider Media Foundation. Links are preserved as in the original article.
NM Libertarian Party says lack of GOP candidates could provide a welcome boost
The Libertarian Party of New Mexico this week revealed its official slate of candidates. Among them are Jason Vaillancourt, a candidate for state auditor, and Rhett Trapman, running for U.S. Senate. Republicans failed to get candidates on the ballot in both races, though the party is mounting write-in campaigns for them.
Libertarian Party Chair Chris Luchini told Source NM he believes that if Vaillancourt and Trapman receive enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, most Republicans will vote for them instead of a Democrat come Election Day.
“If we run a candidate in a two-way race against the Democrat, say, 75% to 80% of Republicans will vote for any name on the ballot that isn’t the Democrat,” he said. “Politics, unfortunately, seems to be more driven by hate than love.”
As a result, Luchini said the Libertarian Party is poised to greatly expand its voter base and visibility, not to mention potentially even win one of the races. Moreover, the noticeable lack of Republicans on the ballot will enable the Libertarian Party to return to major party status, he said.
The party first gained major party status in 2018 and lost it following the 2024 election. State law requires minor parties to receive on Election Day at least 5% of the votes cast in the previous presidential or gubernatorial election to achieve major party status. This year, that equates to a little more than 46,000 votes.
The Libertarians must also have at least one-third of 1% of the state’s registered voters to become a major party. According to the latest figures from the Secretary of State’s Office, 2% of voters are registered with parties other than the major Democratic or Republican parties, though the data does not specify how many are Libertarians.
Luchini said Libertarians receiving 5% of the vote is certainly possible, especially since they seem likely to grab so many votes from Republicans this year.
“I’m not here to give advice to the other parties about maintaining their house,” he said. “But the Republicans’ results speak for themselves.”
Editor’s note: Source New Mexico spells the candidate’s name as “Trapman.” IPR has confirmed the correct spelling is “Trappman.”
It does.
I think the Judicial race does count toward ballot access.