On June 26, former New Mexico State Senator Joseph Carraro filed a petition to be on the November ballot as an independent candidate for State Senate. He will be the only opponent to the Republican nominee. See this story. Carraro served in the legislature 1984-1988 and 1992-2008.

Carraro will benefit by the fact that this year, for the first time in many decades, New Mexico’s general election ballot has no straight-ticket device.

This November, current or former state legislators who were previously major party nominees are running for the legislature as independents in at least four states. Those former or current state legislators are Kyle Johansen in Alaska, Kathleen Curry in Colorado, Nancy Argenziano in Florida, and Joseph Carraro in New Mexico. Johansen and Carraro were formerly Republicans; Curry and Argenziano were formerly Democrats.

A former California legislator, Anthony Adams, ran for Congress this year, but because he didn’t place first or second in the June 5 primary, he can’t run in November. If California didn’t use a top-two system, he probably would be on the November ballot as an independent candidate.