New Mexico has emerged as a relocation destination for Texans sick of the state’s continuing tilt to the right, National Public Radio reports.
A lengthy story on Tuesday evening’s edition of All Things Considered detailed the exodus of politically progressive Texans to New Mexico, which NPR dubbed a “blue refuge in the MAGA red West.” In 2022 and 2023, nearly 34,000 Texans relocated to the Land of Enchantment — a larger number than departed to any other state.
“I was very proud to be a Texan and never really thought we’d leave, but the political climate became so conservative it felt oppressive to me,” expat Nancy Fuka told NPR. She and her husband, a retired venture capitalist, left the Lone Star State for Santa Fe, which has attracted enough former Texans that some refer to it as “Austin West.”
“You couldn’t pay us enough to move back to Texas at this point,” Fuka added. “The emphasis of fundamentalist religion just grew and grew.”
Despite the influence of the oil and gas, farming and cattle industries, New Mexico remains deep blue. The state, for example, has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election but one since 1992, and both of its U.S. Senators are democrats.
What’s more, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has made no secret that she welcomes Texans angry or frightened by having their abortion rights ripped away, their transgender children targeted or state leaders dictating what they can teach in school, according to NPR. Grisham even launched a 2024 initiative to encourage Texas medical professionals to consider relocating to her state.
“People are seeking out states in the West where the skies are incredibly blue,” Grisham told the news outlet. “We’ve got four seasons, friendly people, free college, free universal pre-K. … And we’re going to be a safe haven for reproductive health for women and their families all across America.”
To Grisham’s point, an estimated 14,230 Texas women traveled to New Mexico for an abortion in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that tracks abortion access. That’s a larger number than went to any other state for the procedure, the study found.
Recent data also suggests large numbers of Texans regularly cross the border into New Mexico to purchase legal cannabis. Indeed, a 2023 Associated Press analysis found that cannabis retailers and dispensaries near the state’s border with Texas racked up an “outsized portion” of the $300 million it reported in its first year of legal weed sales.
The NPR piece points out that the exodus from Texas into New Mexico is tiny compared to the 50,000 people who relocate to the Lone Star State monthly.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — a Republican who’s presided over the state’s rightward shift — has also clapped back at Grisham’s attempts to lure away doctors by pointing to the Texas’ booming influx of new residents, according to the report.
“People and businesses vote with their feet, and continually they are choosing to move to Texas more than any other state in the country,” he said.
Even so, New Mexicans who spoke to NPR said they largely welcome the influx, even if it’s driven up housing prices in some urban areas. They point to their state’s “live and let live” philosophy as one of its key attractions — and a quality that increasingly appears to have slipped away in Texas.
“No question. It’s been a 20-year influx of white liberals moving to New Mexico because, why not?” New Mexico state Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, a Democrat told the news organization. “You’re either lucky enough to be born here, like myself, or you’re smart enough to move here.”
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This article appears in May 14-27, 2025.