After serving as state Democratic Party chairs, Haaland and Bregman took diverging paths

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Sam Bregman and Deb Haaland couldn't be more different.

Born in Washington, D.C., Bregman is a white man of Jewish descent with a big personality and a cowboy persona.

Haaland, a Native American woman, is more reserved. A member of Laguna Pueblo who came from humble beginnings, she is soft-spoken and has called herself a workhorse, not a show horse.

One thing the pair have in common, though, is both served as chairs of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

But much like Bregman and Haaland themselves, their tenures — and the political paths they took after serving as party chair — are markedly different. During Bregman's time in the position, New Mexico Democrats saw what many called the party's worst thrashing in decades. He stepped down after the 201