ALBUQUERQUE — Democratic incumbent Gary King won a second term as New Mexico's attorney general, defeating a challenger who campaigned on Democratic corruption.

Republican Matt Chandler of Clovis, the district attorney in Curry and Roosevelt counties, hammered on the issue of governmental corruption during the campaign, contending corruption had a strong hold on New Mexico and the state could not move forward with other priorities until the problem was addressed.

King responded that his office had done a lot to address corruption, and that's one reason there had been so much discussion about the subject.

When King ran four years ago, he carried almost 57 percent of the vote over Jim Bibb. The race was much closer this year, as King was winning with 52 percent of the vote before final returns were tallied. He was propelled, however, with more than 70 percent of the vote in Santa Fe County, where he lives.

He pointed to the governmental accountability division he created to deal with corruption and said he'd expand that office in a second term. Chandler has proposed a public corruption hot line for whistle-blowers or others with tips on corruption.

King is a former state lawmaker and son of New Mexico's longest-serving governor, the late Bruce King.

Chandler, who was elected as district attorney in 2004, is the son of former state Sen. Caleb Chandler.

It's been an expensive race, with King out-fundraising and outspending Chandler about 2-to-1.

Chandler urged voters to choose a "professional prosecutor" over King, whom he labeled a "professional politician." King, on the other hand, urged people "not to take a chance on a rookie." Each accused the other of lying about his opponent's record.