1986Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
1986 election for New Mexico Governor
Governor · New Mexico
Garrey E. Carruthers (R) won with 53.0% of the vote, defeating Ray B. Powell (D) by 6.1 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Garrey E. CarruthersRepublican · winner
53.0%209,455
Ray B. PowellDemocrat
47.0%185,378
394,833 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1986
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET