The former Rio Rancho mayor advances to the November general election against Democratic nominee Deb Haaland.

Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

Gregg Hull, who was the mayor of New Mexico’s third-largest city for 12 years, clinched the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday evening, with a margin of more than 10,000 votes in the three-way contest, according to unofficial results. 

Hull took the stage just after 9:40 p.m. after maintaining a lead over his opponents: public relations professional Doug Turner and Duke Rodriguez, a former healthcare executive and cannabis mogul.

Dancing to the guitar riff of “It’s a Long Way to the Top” by AC/DC, Hull said the road to the Nov. 3 general election facing Deb Haaland, who overwhelmingly won the Democratic nomination, will mean a “long, hard campaign.”

Hull said he will present voters with “a real choice” in the November election, describing his commitment to lowering energy costs, supporting the oil and gas industry, and said he would work to improve education and lower crime rates. 

“It is a choice between an economy that works for everybody, or one that keeps too many New Mexicans in poverty,” Hull said. “As your governor, I’m going to fight every single day to bring new businesses to this state and to keep the ones we have and create the kind of high-paying jobs that give our young people a reason to stay here at home in New Mexico.”

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Deb Haaland won the Democratic primary for New Mexico governor and will face Republican Gregg Hull in November’s general election.

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Hull repeated his call for unity from the state party. 

“If we don’t come together as a party, as a people, we will just continue to go down the same path over and over and over again,” he said. “So what I want to do is make sure that we reach out to all those individuals that didn’t vote for us tonight and let them know how much we want them to be a part of this campaign and we want to earn that vote.”

Hull carried the state’s most populous county, Bernalillo, by about 8,000 votes —  more than double that of Turner, the next closest competitor. Hull won his home county of Sandoval by about the same margin. Republicans in Santa Fe County and Valencia County also favored Hull. While these voters carried Hull to the November general election, the unofficial election results also highlighted Hull’s struggles outside the metro. 

Turner handily beat Hull in New Mexico’s deeply red southeastern corner, including Eddy, Lea and Chaves Counties. Turner and Hull appeared to split Doña Ana County Republicans, with just 3 votes separating the candidates as of 10 p.m.

Danielle Prokop covers the environment and local government for Source New Mexico.