Larry E. Marker

Marker was born in Hobbs in 1963 and raised in Roswell after his family settled there in 1972, according to his campaign website.[3] The site says he has worked in oil and gas production, farming, ranching, manufacturing, construction and service, and that years of confronting what it describes as government overreach led him to grassroots conservative activism and study of the New Mexico Constitution and statutes.[3] The Albuquerque Journal describes him as a self-employed oil and gas businessman, and he lists Roswell as his residence.[6][3]

Marker first appeared on a general-election ballot in 2022, as an independent write-in candidate for Commissioner of Public Lands; he received 0.6% (3,950 votes) in a race won by incumbent Stephanie Garcia Richard (D).[2] In the June 4, 2024, Republican primary for State Senate District 27 he finished third with 15.4% (870 votes), behind Patrick Boone IV, who won, and incumbent Greg Nibert.[2]

In 2026 no Republican appeared on the June 2 U.S. Senate primary ballot, and Marker qualified for the general election as a write-in candidate with 31,220 votes, after needing 2,351 for his name to appear on the November ballot.[2][4] He challenged incumbent Sen. Ben Ray Luján, and his website emphasized oil and gas, border enforcement and relief from federal regulation of agriculture.[1][3][4] He received 36.7% of the vote to Ben Ray Luján's 63.3%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[5]