1980Final results
1980 election for New Mexico Senate District 16
New Mexico State Senate · New Mexico
Thomas R. Rutherford (D) won with 58.7% of the vote, defeating John David Skipper (R) by 17.3 points.
Thomas R. RutherfordDemocrat · winner · incumbent
58.7%4,955
John David SkipperRepublican
41.3%3,493
8,448 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET