Dems’ proposed U.S. House map could mean Pearce replaces Leger Fernandez in Congress

The Democrats in the New Mexico’s Legislature are ruthlessly trying to ram through a new proposed map that would create a D+11 district in congressional District 1, a D+5 district in District 3, and a D+4 district in District 2, according to FiveThirtyEight analysis. 

The gerrymandering attempt by the Democrats to squeak out three Democrat-leaning districts could actually backfire big time for them, especially given recent polling. 

A new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll shows that “45 percent approve of the Democratic party while 55 percent disapprove. Republicans fared slightly better at 49 percent approval. The poll suggests that even after the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Democrats still have work to do ahead of the 2022 midterm elections,” according to 790 KABC.

The bad news for Democrats, especially following New Jersey’s and Virginia’s competitive races, where the GOP flipped the Virginia governor’s mansion and narrowly lost New Jersey, a state won by Joe Biden in 2020 by 15.93%, could mean Democrats are endangered – even in New Mexico in 2022.

Recently, the National Republican Congressional Committee added first-term Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-03) to its target list, which could mean that the far-left congresswoman who has openly touted extreme late-term abortion, could be booted from Congress.

With the New Mexico Democrats’ plans of redistricting New Mexicans to take out Congresswoman Yvette Herrell (R-NM-02) by swinging her district to a D+4 and putting conservative areas like northern Hobbs and Lovington into Leger Fernandez’s district, this could backfire. 

In one scenario, the Democrats’ decision could result in someone like former Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM-02), who lives in southeastern New Mexico, returign to Congress in the Third District. Pearce has shown he can raise money and could put up a strong fight against the vulnerable freshman Democrat, who has adopted far-left policies. 

Do Democrats know what they are doing by swinging the Third District from a D+14 district to a mere D+5? This could give Republicans a chance to have two Republicans representing New Mexico in the U.S. House. 

Even Leger Fernandez’s brother, Martín, testified in the New Mexico Senate Judiciary Committee against the proposed maps that could wipe out his sibling from Congress, telling the committee, “Many of you have very, very large districts and you understand how hard it is to represent those various areas of your district. The S.B. 1 would make it really [difficult]. I mean, from going from Gallup all the way to Roswell… is not a good way to have a representative represent their constituents. The acequia to the oil patch are not communities of interest.” 

Former congressional candidate Alexis Martinez Johnson, a Republican, ran for the Third District in 2020 and for the mayorship of Santa Fe in November. She has recently launched an exploratory committee to run again for the Third District, this time in a more politically friendly seat. 

“My family and I have discussed how we can serve, and we find it prudent to listen to New Mexicans, which we plan to do over the course of this month,” Martinez Johnson said.