SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Republican voters embraced the familiar faces of a former television weatherman and two-time congressional nominee in attempts to claw back a House and Senate seat from Democratic control in New Mexico's primary election on Tuesday.

Former state Rep. Yvette Herrell won the GOP nomination to the southern 2nd Congressional District, setting up a rematch with Democrat U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small of Las Cruces.

Herrell finished ahead of a field that included oil executive Claire Chase and Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys following a nasty primary campaign marred by personal attacks.

Former weatherman Mark Ronchetti of Albuquerque won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to compete in an open race to replace retiring Sen. Tom Udall.

Ronchetti will run in the general election against six-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, along with Libertarian Bob Walsch of Santa Fe. The newscaster defeated anti-abortion activist and Navajo Nation member Elisa Martinez of Albuquerque and professor Gavin Clarkson of Las Cruces.

Ronchetti ran a campaign with upbeat slogans about the future and highlighted his support of President Donald Trump’s border wall in visits to the area. Martinez highlighted Ronchetti’s prior criticism of Trump to no avail.

Herrell told television broadcaster KOAT in a video chat that her campaign “put people above politics” and she plans to keep doing that. The Alamogordo resident said she only wished she could celebrate in person with supporters.

The coronavirus pandemic did not stand in the way of voter turnout, as the popularity over absentee balloting soared.

Overall statewide voting exceeded 375,000, over the combined 2016 presidential primary turnout of about 320,000, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Uncontested in the primary, Luján hailed the heavy turnout as a victory in itself.

“As our country grapples with persistent inequality, exercising our right to vote is a pivotal part of bringing about much-needed change,” he said in a statement.

Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Democratic nomination for president in New Mexico, while Trump also won his party’s statewide nomination to pursue reelection.

Hillary Clinton beat Trump by about 8 percentage points in the 2016 statewide vote, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has pledged her support to Biden this year.

Trump insisted during a rally last year in Rio Rancho that New Mexico was within Republicans’ reach. With no active opposition, Biden is already the party’s presumed nominee.

Democratic contenders for Congress, including a former CIA operative, district attorney and professional advocate for Native American communities, were facing off for the opportunity succeed Luján in a district dominated by registered Democrats. The winner of that seven-way contest will compete against a Republican.

Valerie Plame, a former U.S. intelligence operative whose secret identity was exposed shortly after her diplomat husband disputed U.S. intelligence used to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion, aimed to make it to the November election.

Attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez, a longtime consultant for voting rights initiatives and Native American communities, was embraced in her campaign by numerous groups representing progressive causes, including the abortion rights group Emily's List. Rival candidates included Santa Fe-based District Attorney Marco Serna, Sandoval County Treasurer Laura Montoya and former Obama administration official John Blair.

No winner had emerged in the race late Tuesday night.

At a rodeo fairgrounds polling station in Santa Fe, election workers squirted sanitizer on the hands of each arriving voter as one precaution against the coronavirus.

Democrat Mary Ann Andrews, 71, was fearful of mailing delays and instead delivered her absentee ballot to a polling location in Santa Fe on Election Day. She liked two female candidates in the 3rd District and had trouble deciding.

“I ended up voting for Plame,” she said. “I just flipped a coin, honestly. ... I hope she doesn’t disappoint me.”

Three contenders vied for the GOP nomination in the 3rd District where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-1. They included Navajo Nation member Karen Evette Bedonie of Mexican Springs, environmental engineer Alexis Johnson of Santa Fe and former Santa Fe County commissioner Harry Montoya.

In New Mexico's metropolitan 1st Congressional District, former police detective Michelle Garcia Holmes won the Republican nomination to take on first-term Rep. Debra Haaland.

Garcia Holmes finished ahead of attorney Jared Vander Dussen and businessman Brett Kokinadis. Haaland is one of the nation’s first Native American congresswomen.

The compact district overlapping Albuquerque hasn’t been represented by a Republican since 2009.

State Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce said GOP federal and state candidates are well-positioned win over moderate voters on issues of gun control, late-term abortion and overspending in state government.

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Associated Press reporter Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report from Santa Fe.