This is the 1986 race. The latest: 2026 →

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
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

EvenR+6.11986D+9.51990R+9.91994R+9.11998D+16.42002D+37.62006

Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET