Democrat Melanie Stansbury easily wins New Mexico’s 1st district House seat in a special election. Stansbury is an environmental policy expert and former White House aid under former President Barack Obama.
What We Know:
- The representative ran against Republican State Sen. Mark Moores for the seat previously held by current Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. According to the New York Times, Stansbury won by 62 percent of the vote, while Moores only received 34 percent, allowing Democrats to hold on to their narrow U.S. House majority led.
- According to CBS News, Stansbury’s campaign focused on economic fairness and climate change, while Moores’ emphasized policing and public safety- focusing on the increase of murders in Albuquerque since 2020.
- During the campaign, Moores criticized Stansbury’s support of the BREATHE Act– a bill that supports the Black Lives Matter Movement and defunding the police, stating, “We need the resources and the last thing we need to do is pass radical legislation like the BREATHE Act, which defunds the police.” Stansbury maintained her support of the bill but did release an ad showing her plans to obtain funding for law enforcement and ensure public safety.
- Many congressional Republicans didn’t support Moores’ campaign, as they felt “it would have been a waste of resources to spend significant money in a district that has been held by a Democrat since 2009.” Democrats showered Stansbury with funds, and she received support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and first lady Jill Biden. After her victory, Representative Sean Patrick Maloney of New York stated, “New Mexico voters chose a leader with the grit and determination to deliver results and rejected the tired Republican tactics of lies and fear-mongering.”
With Stansbury’s win, Democrats are less worried about the possible outcomes of midterm elections in 2022 and the passing of future bills, as they hold control in the White House and Congress. Republicans, however, now have to re-evaluate their methods for pushing the need for public safety and policing in the county, specifically in areas leaning more blue.
