House Effects
Monday, September 21, 202643 days until Election Day, November 3, 2026
Senate · 2026

New Mexico Senate

Ben Ray Luján (D)v.Larry Marker (R)SAFE D

Incumbent: Ben Ray Luján, currently Democratic.

Projected margin
D+16.4
Nine in ten outcomes: D+27 to D+6
Chance of winning
99%
Ben Ray Luján
Polls alone
D+15.2
1 poll from 1 pollster; latest Aug 28. Weight in projection: 19%.
Fundamentals alone
D+16.6
Weight in projection: 81%.
Polls

The average over time

Each poll is first shifted by its sponsor's and its pollster's measured lean, then weighted by recency and track record. Sample size gets no weight: in 2,000-plus past races it predicted nothing about accuracy. Why.

R+5EvenD+5D+10D+15D+20Sep ’26OctNovD+15.2Election Day
adjusted weighted average shading: which side the average favors each poll, as published party-aligned pollster or sponsor
Before any poll

What the fundamentals say

A regression on past Senate races, fit without looking at this year. The national environment term uses the generic ballot after its historical correction (D+5.3).

What each term adds to the estimate
BaselineD+0.5
Partisan leanD+5.6
National environmentD+3.3
IncumbencyD+1.8
Incumbent's last over/under-performanceR+0.6
Fundraising gapD+6.1
Fundamentals estimateD+16.6
Input: partisan lean
D+7.5
Presidential vote relative to the nation, 2024 (and 2020).
Input: raised from itemized individual donors, through June 30
$1.6M D · $25K R
FEC filings; the model uses the log of the ratio.
Handicappers, for comparison
Cook: Safe D · Sabato: Safe D · Inside Elections: Safe D
Not an input to the projection.
Table view

The one poll in the average

“Share” is how much of today’s average each poll supplies. It depends on recency, the pollster’s record, whether the poll screens for likely voters, and how many other polls the same firm has in the race. It does not depend on sample size.

DatesPollsterSampleLujánMarkerAs publishedAdjustedShare of average
Aug 21–28Research & Polling Inc.
for Albuquerque Journal
516 LV5338D+15D+15.2
moved 0.2 toward D
100%
source

LV: likely voters. RV: registered voters. A: all adults. “Adjusted” is the published margin after removing the sponsor shift and the pollster’s measured house effect; the small print says how far that moved the poll. Dem.-aligned and Rep.-aligned mark polls paid for by a party, a campaign, or an allied group, or taken by a firm whose published work is mostly for one side. They are shifted by the average lean of such polls, then counted at full weight.

History

Recent results for this office

YearDemocratRepublicanResult
2024Martin HeinrichNella Louise DomeniciD+10.1
2020Ben Ray LujánMark V. RonchettiD+6.1
2018Martin HeinrichMick RichD+23.6
2014Tom UdallAllen E. WehD+11.1