4 candidates are on the ballot. One ballot can carry several appellate seats, and the note below sets out which contest is which. For each judge: the record, any official performance evaluation, and the arguments published for and against them.
New Mexico puts appellate judges on the ballot in two different ways, and in 2026 both appear. A judge first appointed to fill a vacancy must run in the next partisan general election, with a party label, and after winning that runs only in yes-or-no retention elections. All of these seats are voted on statewide. In ballot order: first, near the top of the ballot with the partisan races, Court of Appeals Position 1 — Kris Houghton (D), appointed to the court in August 2025 by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to replace Judge Kristina Bogardus, running for a full eight-year term; he was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the June 2, 2026 primary and no Republican opponent could be confirmed. Then, near the bottom of the ballot in a section labelled retention: Supreme Court Justice C. Shannon Bacon; Supreme Court Justice David K. Thomson; and Court of Appeals Judge J. Miles Hanisee. A retention question has no opponent — a voter answers yes or no on keeping that judge, and in New Mexico the judge needs at least 57% yes to stay. A no vote leaves the seat vacant, which the governor then fills by appointment from a nominating commission's list, with the appointee facing voters again at the next general election. New Mexico is one of a handful of states that publishes an official judicial performance evaluation: the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, created by the state Supreme Court, surveys the lawyers, judges, court staff, law enforcement and jurors who deal with each judge, reviews caseload and timeliness statistics from the Administrative Office of the Courts, and meets each judge before publishing a recommendation. Its 2026 recommendations were released on September 18, 2026 and are recorded below. JPEC evaluates only judges standing for retention, so it did not evaluate Houghton.
4 candidates · ballot order · Kris Houghton currently holds this seat
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
Federal prosecution and civil litigation experience as preparation for the appellate bench.
Continuity in the seat he was appointed to hold.
Handling the criminal and civil appeals that make up the Court of Appeals docket.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Judge, New Mexico Court of Appeals, since August 16, 2025, appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to the vacancy created by Judge Kristina Bogardus's resignation.
Assistant United States Attorney, District of New Mexico, civil division; chief of the criminal division of that office from July 2022 to May 2025.
Graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law.
Unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Court of Appeals Position 1 in the June 2, 2026 primary.
Not evaluated by the New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, which by design evaluates only judges standing for retention.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
Whether Houghton has a Republican or independent general-election opponent could not be confirmed. The New Mexico Secretary of State's proclamation lists Court of Appeals Position 1 as up for nomination in both primaries, but no Republican nominee was named in any source reviewed.
No published criticism of Houghton by name was found. Searched: Republican Party of New Mexico material, the Santa Fe New Mexican, Albuquerque Journal, Source New Mexico and the Cibola Citizen.
Houghton joined the court in August 2025 and no analysis of his opinions was found.
Justice, Supreme Court of New Mexico; has served as chief justice of the court.
The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission recommended on September 18, 2026 that voters retain her. JPEC is the official evaluation body created by the state Supreme Court; it surveys judges, lawyers, court staff, law enforcement, probation and parole officers, CASA volunteers, CYFD staff, interpreters and in some cases jurors, and reviews caseload, excusal and case-resolution statistics from the Administrative Office of the Courts.
JPEC evaluates judges on four areas: legal ability; fairness; communication skills; and preparation, attentiveness, temperament and control over proceedings.
JPEC recommended retaining 41 of the 43 judges standing for retention in 2026; the two it did not recommend on had simply not served long enough to evaluate, and neither was an appellate judge.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No organised campaign for or against Bacon's retention was found; reporting notes that no such effort had emerged in 2026, and New Mexico retention incumbents have recently drawn roughly 70% yes.
The individual survey scores behind JPEC's recommendation are published on nmjpec.org as a full evaluation, but the per-criterion numbers for Bacon could not be extracted from the site's search interface during research.
The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission recommended on September 18, 2026 that voters retain him. JPEC is the official evaluation body created by the state Supreme Court; it surveys judges, lawyers, court staff, law enforcement, probation and parole officers, CASA volunteers, CYFD staff, interpreters and in some cases jurors, and reviews caseload, excusal and case-resolution statistics from the Administrative Office of the Courts.
JPEC evaluates judges on four areas: legal ability; fairness; communication skills; and preparation, attentiveness, temperament and control over proceedings.
JPEC recommended retaining 41 of the 43 judges standing for retention in 2026.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No organised campaign for or against Thomson's retention was found; reporting notes that no such effort had emerged in 2026.
The individual survey scores behind JPEC's recommendation are published on nmjpec.org as a full evaluation, but the per-criterion numbers for Thomson could not be extracted from the site's search interface during research.
Judge, New Mexico Court of Appeals; has served as chief judge of that court.
The New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission recommended on September 18, 2026 that voters retain him. JPEC is the official evaluation body created by the state Supreme Court; it surveys judges, lawyers, court staff and others who appear before a judge, and reviews caseload, excusal and case-resolution statistics from the Administrative Office of the Courts.
JPEC evaluates judges on four areas: legal ability; fairness; communication skills; and preparation, attentiveness, temperament and control over proceedings.
The only Court of Appeals judge among the 43 judges standing for retention in New Mexico in 2026.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No organised campaign for or against Hanisee's retention was found.
The individual survey scores behind JPEC's recommendation are published on nmjpec.org as a full evaluation, but the per-criterion numbers for Hanisee could not be extracted from the site's search interface during research.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A New Mexico ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at New Mexico Secretary of State.