Day after historic win, New Mexico Gov.-elect Haaland starts accepting resumes

The morning after her historic Election Day victory, New Mexico Gov.-elect Deb Haaland began recruiting “anyone who loves New Mexico and has what it takes to serve” to apply to work for her incoming administration.

Haaland, a former member of Congress and U.S. Department of the Interior secretary, defeated Republican challenger Gregg Hull, a former longtime mayor of Rio Rancho, in Tuesday’s general election race for governor, making her the first Native American woman elected to lead a state in U.S. history.

New Mexico elects Democrat Deb Haaland as first Native American woman governor in US

She and her running mate, Lt. Gov-elect Stephanie Garcia Richard, shook hands with New Mexico voters and spoke to reporters Wednesday morning at Albuquerque’s Barelas Coffee House, a frequent stop for politicians. Haaland said that she plans to speak with Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who called to congratulate her on her win Tuesday night, about the transition and noted that she has not yet made final decisions about who will serve in her cabinet.

Her campaign debuted a new website, haalandtransition.com, where prospective employees can upload their resumes and express interest in roles of all levels with her administration.

“We didn’t know we would win until last night when the results came in, and I am not the type of person to put the cart before the horse,” Haaland said. “We will absolutely start thinking about and looking at potential folks to fill those positions. I feel confident that we can find the right people to fill the right positions to help us move New Mexico forward.”

Garcia Richard said both she and Haaland have experience recruiting talented staffers, citing her experience as New Mexico commissioner of public lands and Haaland’s experience as U.S. Department of the Interior secretary.

“We’re going to rely on that experience,” she said.

Haaland said her top priorities upon taking office include signing a data center moratorium executive order, finding a new leader for the state’s troubled child welfare agency, addressing affordability, investing in education and public safety and bolstering the state’s first-in-the-nation universal childcare program.

“I feel ready to move our priorities forward for the people of New Mexico,” she said, adding that she is focused on “making sure that folks can pay their rent or mortgage and buy groceries in the same month.”

She said that using the 2027 legislative session to address the changing eligibility requirements for Medicaid, which are set to take effect in January and could remove coverage from nearly 90,000 New Mexicans, is also “top of mind.” On the campaign trail, she often promised to combat the Trump administration’s cuts to social services and to “work toward” a statewide public option for healthcare.

In her Tuesday evening victory speech, Haaland said her time in Congress combatting the first Trump administration prepared her to “do it again.” During her Wednesday morning visit to Barelas Coffee House, she reiterated that point.

“I’m willing to work with the administration to make sure that they live up to their obligations to New Mexico,” Haaland said Wednesday morning. “And I absolutely will speak to the attorney general if, in fact, those conversations aren’t successful. New Mexico deserves and requires funding from the U.S. government.”