On April 8, 2025, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed SB 16 into law, a historic bipartisan reform that gives more than 330,000 independent voters—who make up nearly 25% of New Mexico’s electorate—the right to vote in the state’s primary elections, starting in 2026. This continues an overall nationwide trend of states opening their primary elections to more voters.
“New Mexico’s open primaries law will ensure that every eligible voter has a say in every taxpayer-funded election, not just those who choose to affiliate with a party,” said Nick Troiano, Executive Director of Unite America. “For too long, a quarter of New Mexicans have been locked out of their state’s primary elections—which in most cases are the only elections that matter. Ending closed primaries is an important step toward increasing participation and representation in our democracy.”
SB 16 passed with bipartisan support in both chambers, and supporters noted that the law would improve participation in New Mexico’s elections.
“Democracy only works if we all play a part. When I took office, I wasn’t just elected to represent Republicans but all of my constituents. That includes my constituents in our state’s fastest growing party—independents,” said New Mexico State Sen. Crystal Brantley (R). “Senate Bill 16 gives everyone a voice and removes barriers for those who want to see the best candidate come forward from each party, not just the one that tacks hardest left or right to win the primary.”
“Opening primary elections by allowing voters registered as independent or unaffiliated to participate in taxpayer-funded elections improves voting fairness and, in turn, democracy,” added New Mexico State Sen. Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D). “I’m glad to have sponsored the bill bringing this change to New Mexico. And as evidenced by the votes on the Senate floor, it’s an update that both major parties can get behind.”
New Mexico Voters First and New Mexico Open Elections led the multi-year campaign to open the state’s primaries, spearheading a coalition that included NM Native Vote, Common Cause New Mexico, Conservation Voters New Mexico, University of New Mexico College Democrats, and the Veterans and Military Families Caucus.
“We have dedicated significant time and effort to building a strong coalition, engaging legislators, and mobilizing independent voters across New Mexico,” said New Mexico Voters First Executive Director Sila Avcil. “This progress would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our advocates. New Mexico deserves fair and representative elections, and I am honored to be part of this movement to pass SB 16.”
Because most general elections nationwide are uncompetitive for federal and state races, primary contests effectively determine winners before a single vote is cast. This is the Primary Problem in politics today, where a tiny share of the electorate determines most election outcomes in low-turnout party primaries.
In 2024, 83% of New Mexico’s state house races were effectively decided in closed primaries where independents couldn’t vote. Votes cast in those 83% of general elections were meaningless because they had no bearing on the outcome. In fact, only 14% of New Mexicans cast meaningful votes last year. (A meaningful vote is a vote cast in a competitive election that actually determines the outcomes. Full methodology here.)
New Mexico’s SB 16 continues a nationwide trend of states opening their primaries. Over the past decade, Colorado and Maine have opened their primaries to independents, while Alaska voters went a step further by adopting open, all-candidate primaries. The number of states with closed primaries, where independents can’t fully participate, is now down to 16.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.