Showdown at the New Mexico Supreme Court
SANTA FE, N.M., March 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Mexico Supreme Court has set the stage for a showdown between gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez and the outlaws trying to kick him off the June 2026 primary election ballot. On March 13th, the New Mexico Supreme Court requested that Rodriguez submit a response to an appeal brought by plaintiffs James Maes and John Rockwell. The Supreme Court asked Rodriguez, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, to file his argument by March 20th at 4:35 p.m.
“I am not afraid of a showdown at the New Mexico Supreme Court,” Rodriguez said. “I relish the opportunity to air all of this dirty laundry out for the public to see. I relish the opportunity to restore order to the chaos my opponents have created. They want to break things, including our elections. I want to fix things, including our elections. I feel a little bit like Pat Garrett staring down Billy the Kid, or Wyatt Earp staring down the Clanton gang.”
The lawsuit that has now come before the New Mexico Supreme Court was first filed by plaintiffs James Maes and John Rockwell on February 12th, 2026 in the Seventh Judicial District Court. Numbered D-116-CV-2026-00277, the suit begged the District Court to remove Rodriguez’s name from the ballot on the basis that Rodriguez was allegedly not qualified to run for governor. Maes and Rockwell brought their suit pro se, meaning they were not represented by an attorney and proceeded on their own.
On February 24th, 2026, Judge Curtis Gurley conducted a lengthy hearing in a courtroom in Aztec, New Mexico. In an oral ruling rendered on February 24, Judge Gurley dismissed the suit on both procedural and substantive bases. Judge Gurley held that the Court would not overturn or reverse Duke Rodriguez’s qualification for the primary election.
On March 9th, 2026, Maes and Rockwell filed a Notice of Appeal with the New Mexico Supreme Court, pleading with the state’s highest court to revisit their claim, to second-guess Judge Gurley, and to kick Duke Rodriguez off the ballot. The Supreme Court case is numbered S-1-SC-41325. On March 13th, the five justices of the Court ordered Rodriguez to respond to Maes and Rockwell’s arguments no later than March 20th, 2026.
New Mexico statutes specify that in ballot challenges like this one, the Supreme Court must “hear and render a decision on the appeal forthwith.”
“I hope the Court will be a quick draw on this matter,” Rodriguez stated. “Election deadlines are approaching very soon. The state must translate ballots, print ballots, and send them to voters. Election authorities start sending ballots to our brave servicepeople in uniform on April 18th.”
Although Maes and Rockwell proceeded pro se in the trial court, for their appeal they did engage the services of an attorney. Their chosen counsel is one David Z. Ring.
David Z. Ring has a documented criminal history. As recounted by the New Mexico Court of Appeals, Mr. Ring pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and two counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor in 1998. The Court of Appeals summarized Mr. Ring’s crimes in the course of deciding whether Ring’s history could be sealed from public view. The Court of Appeals’ decision is publicly viewable at https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmca/en/item/395992/index.do?q=state+of+new+mexico+v.+david+zimmerman+ring or https://law.justia.com/cases/new-mexico/court-of-appeals/2013/31-852.html.
“When I realized my opponents hired a lawyer who pled guilty to sexual assault of a minor, my heart broke a little bit,” Rodriguez recalled, “but every gray cloud has a silver lining. Here, that silver lining is my renewed, re-energized commitment to reform New Mexico’s criminal sentencing laws. No more conditional discharges for sex offenders. No more hiding sexual offense records from public view. No more sealing court records when a minor has been assaulted. As governor, I will fight for full transparency of criminal records, greater accountability for those who harm children, and closure of the revolving criminal door.”
In the ballot access case, Rodriguez is represented by Albuquerque attorney Jacob Candelaria, himself a former New Mexico state senator. Candelaria explained, “this suit is a classic New Mexico movida: a coup, a duel, a fight, whatever your preferred translation is. We have a lot of legal weapons in our arsenal, and we are prepared to fire all of them.”
“I have learned over the past weeks that all of the special rules and laws on election cases exist to protect voters,” Duke Rodriguez declared. “When someone tries to remove a candidate from the ballot, what they really want to do is restrict voter choice. Although I am the defendant in these lawsuits, and although I will be the one standing in that courtroom, the real target is you. I am proud to stand up for you.”
Press Inquiries:
E: kristina@runwithduke.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
