FORWARD NEW MEXICO NEWS RELEASE

Late afternoon on May 15, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver’s office confirmed that Forward New Mexico has met the requirements for Minor Party Status and will be listed on the ballot in the November elections.

Forward candidates Michael Vigil for State Auditor, Bob Perls for U.S. Senate, Dennis Dinge for Public Education Commission District 3, Curtis Clough for Public Education Commission District 6 and Karin Hendrickson for State House District 43 have already declared their intention to run. The party is continuing to recruit candidates through the June 25 deadline at which time all declaration of candidacies are due for minor party and independent candidates.

Forward NM submitted over 5,500 signatures supporting the creation of the party (superseding the required 3,500) and held its first public organizational meeting with Forward Party co-founder and former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang on April 10, 2026, in Santa Fe. Voters may change their party registration to Forward at their County Clerk’s Office.

Forward New Mexico Chair Bob Perls said “With this final step, Forward is officially a political party and New Mexicans now have a real choice when casting their ballots in November. We want to move New Mexico not left, not right, but Forward.”

Perls continued “Of course our candidates have to collect the required signatures over the next 6 weeks, but we are confident we can make that happen, just as we were confident we could collect the 5550+ signatures we submitted to qualify as a new political party. We are speaking with a number of other candidates for State House races and county races. We will make a further public announcement on June 25 when all candidates submit their declaration of candidacy.”