Deciding the new congressperson
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, from the Pueblo of Laguna, served New Mexico in the United States House of Representatives before being elevated to the highest position of government ever held by a Native American woman. That historic event leaves New Mexico with a missing representative in Congress. The US Constitution mandates that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announce a special election to fill this seat, and that the people choose their next representative and bring New Mexico back to its full political power.
Governor Lujan Grisham has made the call; a special election will be held Tuesday, June 1.
This election is only open to members of the New Mexico’s First Congressional District, which represents the North-Central areas of the state; including all of Torrance County, a large chunk of Bernalillo County, pieces of Santa Fe County, and the middle and some of the eastern part of Valencia County. Cibola County is not represented by this seat. Representative Yvette Herren serves New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, which includes this county.
There is no primary election; to be on the ballot for this special election a political party must nominate a perspective candidate. New Mexico has three major political parties that can select candidates: Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian. Legislation was proposed in the 2021 Regular Session of the New Mexico State Legislature to change this process and have a primary held instead of letting the parties choose candidates, but that legislation stalled.
So far, only the Republican Party has announced a candidate: Mark Moores, who currently serves as New Mexico State Senator for Bernalillo County.
The Democratic and Libertarian Parties have not yet confirmed their candidate. Currently there are more than two score of people looking to be viable candidates in the “write-in” section for this election, according to Ballotpedia.
“Deb Haaland’s historic confirmation as the nation’s first Native American cabinet secretary is a proud moment for all New Mexicans, but it also kicks off another important election cycle of which every eligible voter in Congressional District 1 should be aware,” Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said in a statement, “Now that Election Day is set, I encourage anyone interested in seeking the office to familiarize themselves with the laws and procedures outlined in the Election Code. I also encourage every eligible voter in CD1 [Congressional District One] to register to vote or update your voter registration, which can be done easily at nmvote.org.”