Willie Madrid wins Doña Ana County Commission District 3 race
Willie Madrid wins the 2026 Doña Ana County Commission District 3 election over Susie Kimble and Julia Brown, according to unofficial results.
The former state representative defeated appointed incumbent Susie Kimble and write-in candidate Julia Brown, receiving nearly 60% of the vote in unofficial returns.
Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News
LAS CRUCES - Democrat Willie D. Madrid won the District 3 seat on the Doña Ana County Commission in Tuesday's election, defeating appointed incumbent Patricia Susan "Susie" Kimble and qualified write-in candidate Julia Tondaleah Brown.
Unofficial returns from the New Mexico secretary of state's office showed Madrid with 7,060 votes, or 59.8%, compared with 4,533 votes, or 38.4%, for Kimble. Brown received 212 votes, or 1.8%.
Madrid led Kimble by 2,527 votes, with 11,805 votes reported in the three-candidate contest.
The Doña Ana County Clerk's Office announced late Tuesday that adjudication of write-in votes in District 3 would continue Wednesday, Nov. 4. The county's Absent Voter Election Board also recessed for the night, with fewer than 100 absentee ballots remaining to be processed countywide.
The board was scheduled to reconvene at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Election results remain unofficial pending state certification.
Kimble, whom Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed to the commission in February, responded to an Election Night inquiry from Organ Mountain News with a message for Madrid.
"I don't really have anything to say. If Willie Madrid succeeds and wins the race, I wish him the best," Kimble wrote in a Tuesday evening email.
Her statement was not a formal concession.
Madrid returns to elected office
Madrid previously represented New Mexico House District 53 from 2019 through 2024, serving three terms in the Legislature.
In 2024, he proposed establishing a permanent food pantry for families living on both the Doña Ana County and Otero County sides of Chaparral.
The Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative reported that Madrid and state Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena helped secure $1.3 million in legislative funding for the project.
Madrid did not respond to the League of Women Voters of Southern New Mexico's 2026 candidate questionnaire and did not participate in the Chaparral or KTAL candidate forums reviewed for this article. Those sources did not establish his position on Project Jupiter, the data center development in Santa Teresa.
Juan Corral
Kimble and Brown emphasized county services
Kimble was seeking her first elected term after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed her in February to complete the term of Shannon Reynolds, who resigned in December 2025.
She founded the Doña Ana County Behavioral Health Local Collaborative and served on the state's Behavioral Health Planning Council. Her appointment came after the commission's 2025 vote on Project Jupiter.
At a September candidate forum in Chaparral covered by the Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative, Kimble said the county had applied for a loan to help households connect to sewer lines. She said expanded wastewater infrastructure could also support additional day care facilities.
Brown, a former Doña Ana County manager and Sunland Park city manager, argued at the forum that residents were missing opportunities for grants and services because county staff did not consistently explain how to access them.
Both candidates also identified roads, flood control and water infrastructure as priorities during a separate forum on KTAL's Speak Up Las Cruces.
Their approaches to Project Jupiter oversight emphasized different methods.
Brown proposed having the county's citizens committee monitor air quality and compliance with development requirements.
In the league's voters' guide, Kimble called for written commitments from developers, measurable performance standards and the use of county legal and financial authority when commitments were not met.
The county's continuing write-in adjudication and remaining absentee ballot processing could change the final totals, although Madrid held a substantial lead in the unofficial returns.
Organ Mountain News also contacted Madrid and Brown for comment, but neither had responded by the time of publication.
Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.
