The Latest: Ronchetti wins GOP nomination for Senate

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Latest on the New Mexico primary election (all times local):

8:06 p.m.

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

Ronchetti defeated anti-abortion activist Elisa Martinez of Albuquerque and professor Gavin Clarkson of Las Cruces in Tuesday’s primary.

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján of Nambé is the presumptive Democratic nominee, and the Libertarian Party is fielding Bob Walsch of Santa Fe.

Rochetti ran a campaign with upbeat slogans about the future and highlighted his support of President Donald Trump’s border wall in visits to the dividing line between Mexico and New Mexico. Martinez highlighted Ronchetti’s prior criticism of Trump.

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7:30 p.m.

Democrat Joe Biden has won the New Mexico presidential primary, his latest victory in Tuesday’s voting as he marches toward earning enough delegates to claim the party nomination before the summer convention.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has pledged to help Biden connect with racial- and ethnic-minority voters in the state. She has also been talked about as a possible Biden running mate.

Biden has also won Tuesday contests in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Rhode Island and South Dakota.

With no active opposition, Biden is already the party’s presumed nominee. But the former vice president’s haul of delegates from Tuesday’s voting pushes him closer to the 1,911 delegates he needs to claim the Democratic presidential nomination.

Voters in several states and the District of Columbia are participating in primary elections. They coincide with a time of crisis across the country. Voters have had to navigate both health concerns over the coronavirus and protests against racism and police brutality.

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7 p.m.

Polls are closing in New Mexico as major parties settle on nominees for open U.S. House and Senate seats.

New Mexico stopped accepting absentee ballots and closed its polls by law at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, with some allowances for any existing lines of voters.

Early and absentee balloting has gained new popularity over traditional Election Day voting as public officials including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham urged precautions against the coronavirus.

New Mexico health officials are reporting an additional 227 confirmed coronavirus cases. The majority are among inmates at a detention center in southern New Mexico.

New Mexico is deciding on final contenders in open races for a U.S. Senate seat and 3rd District congressional seat that last changed hands a dozen years ago.

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6:30 p.m.

State election regulators say more than 375,000 ballots have been cast in New Mexico's primary election as political parties pick nominees for open U.S. House and Senate seats.

Statistics from the secretary of states office on Tuesday afternoon show that Democrats accounted for about 60% of primary ballots cast, amid a surge in Republican voting on Election Day.

Democrats were choosing from seven candidates in the 3rd Congressional District who hope to succeed U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján as he runs for U.S. Senate as the presumptive Democratic nominee. Sen. Tom Udall is retiring.

Republicans are deciding on nominees to challenge Luján for the Senate seat and first-term U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in a southern New Mexico swing district.