Former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima announces run for governor
Watch the announcement below:
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA)-- According to paperwork filed with the Secretary of State's Office, former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima will be running for New Mexico governor. The election will happen November 3, 2026, with the primary happening earlier in the year.
The paperwork shows that Miyagishima is registered with the Democratic party of New Mexico. There are no campaign contributions registered to his campaign so far.
Miyagishima served as Las Cruces' mayor from from 2007 to 2023. ABC-7 reported in February 2025 that Miyagishima was considering a run for governor.
Miyagishima will formally announce his candidacy today at noon. ABC-7 will livestream the announcement here.
The two people he's currently running against for that Democratic seat in the Gubernatorial race are Second Judicial District Attorney, Sam Bregman and former Interior Secretary and New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland. Primary election day is in June of 2026.
There are three issues Miyagishima is running on; Healthcare, affordable housing, and crime.
He says with over 30 years of public service experience, he has the resume that his opponents don't.
"I think very highly of my opponent, but they don't have that experience that I have. I have in fact, I have on one of my websites in detail how we're going to solve this problem or whether it's a crime, whether it's medical malpractice or whether it's affordable housing," said Miyagishima.
