NEW MEXICO JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION COMMISSION RECOMMENDS RETAINING TWO SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, ONE COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE, 30 DISTRICT COURT JUDGES AND EIGHT METROPOLITAN COURT JUDGES IN 2026 GENERAL ELECTION

Commission also releases biographical information on two District Court judges it has not had sufficient time to evaluate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 18, 2026

ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) today recommended voters retain 41 of 43 judges who are standing for retention on the 2026 General Election ballot. The other two judicial retention candidates have not served for a sufficient time for JPEC to make a recommendation to voters. Under state law, the judges must receive at least 57 voter percent approval to remain on the bench.

“This marks the second consecutive election where we’ve been able to recommend retaining all the judges we evaluated. These recommendations are based on predominantly positive evaluations from those they interact with, including other judges, lawyers, court staff, resource staff such as law enforcement and probation/parole officers, CASA volunteers, CYFD, interpreters, and, in some instances, jurors. Additionally, it’s worth noting that some judges have shown improvement in their survey scores since their previous evaluations,” said Denise Torres, chair of JPEC.

Lee Hunt, vice chair of JPEC, added, “We focus on a judge’s overall performance and our evaluations are thorough and objective. Some judges who received lower scores in specific areas detailed what they are doing or plan to do to improve. We believe these judges and the majority of the judges we evaluate work to continually improve as they gain more experience on the bench.”

This year, JPEC’s recommendations to voters statewide are:

Retain Honorable C. Shannon Bacon and David K. Thomson of the Supreme Court of New Mexico

Retain Honorable J. Miles Hanisee, New Mexico Court of Appeals

For the District Court, JPEC’s recommendations are:

First Judicial District Court – Serving Los Alamos, Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties

Retain Honorable Kathleen McGarry Ellenwood, T. Glenn Ellington and Francis T. Mathew.

Second Judicial District Court – Serving Bernalillo County

Retain Honorable Amber Chavez Baker, Beatrice Brickhouse, Bruce C. Fox, Jane C. Levy, Clara Moran, Lisa Chavez Ortega, William Parnall, Alma C. Garcia Roberson and Jennifer Wernersbach.

Third Judicial District Court – Serving Doña Ana County

Retain Honorable Manuel I. Arrieta and Douglas R. Driggers.

Fourth Judicial District Court – Serving Guadalupe, Mora and San Miguel counties

Retain Honorable Michael A. Aragon.

Fifth Judicial District Court – Serving Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties

Retain Honorable David E. Finger, Dustin K. Hunter and Michael H. Stone.

Sixth Judicial District Court – Serving Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties

Retain Honorable Jarod K. Hofacket and Thomas F. Stewart

Seventh Judicial District Court – Serving Catron, Sierra, Socorro and Torrance counties

Retain Honorable Mercedes C. Murphy.

Eighth Judicial District Court – Serving Colfax, Taos and Union counties

Retain Honorable Emilio Jacob Chavez.

Ninth Judicial District Court – Serving Curry and Roosevelt counties

Retain Honorable Benjamin S. Cross and Donna J. Mowrer.

Eleventh Judicial District Court – Serving McKinley and San Juan counties

Retain Honorable Bradford J. Dalley and Curtis R. Gurley. Insufficient time to evaluate Honorable Douglas W. Decker

Twelfth Judicial District Court – Serving Lincoln and Otero counties

Retain Honorable Angie K. Schneider. Insufficient time to evaluate Honorable Stephen P. Ochoa.

Thirteenth Judicial District Court – Serving Cibola, Sandoval and Valencia counties

Retain Honorable Christopher G. Perez, James L. Sanchez and Amanda Sanchez Villalobos.

For the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, JPEC’s recommendations are:

Retain Honorable Rosie Lazcano Allred, Vidalia G. Chavez, Jason M. Jaramillo, Brittany Maldonado Malott, Jill M. Martinez, Claire Ann McDaniel, Christine E. Rodriguez and Joshua J. Sanchez.

Judges are evaluated on their overall performance in four main areas: 1) legal ability; 2) fairness; 3) communication skills; and 4) preparation, attentiveness, temperament and control over proceedings.

JPEC also reviews statistics from the Administrative Office of the Courts for each judge including caseloads, excusals (reasons a judge is excused from hearing a case) and the time it takes to get cases resolved.

In addition, JPEC meets one-on-one with each judge being evaluated to review the survey results as well as his or her self-assessment of performance.

JPEC has posted evaluations in English and Spanish on its website, www.nmjpec.org. Individuals may download voter guides for their judicial district or call 1-800-687-3417 to request information by mail. In addition, JPEC will inform voters about its evaluations through advertising and social media.

“We encourage each individual to vote in all elections for which they are eligible – including the judicial retention elections. These elections are near the end of the ballot, so please take the time to go all the way through the ballot. Your vote does matter,” Torres concluded.

JPEC has 15 volunteer members, including seven lawyers and eight non-lawyers who are appointed to staggered terms. Members are appointed to represent diverse professions, backgrounds and geographical areas of the state.

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