On Wednesday, the Democrat Party of New Mexico announced that their central committee had nominated state Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-Bernalillo) to be their nominee for Congress in the First Congressional District to replace Deb Haaland, who recently was elevated to be secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Stansbury won on a second-round ballot by a tight margin, beating state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez (D-Bernalillo) by a mere 6 votes. Stansbury got 103 votes to Sedillo-Lopez’s 97. Only one member of the committee abstained from voting.
On the first round of balloting, Sedillo-Lopez won but did not get a 50% majority of the votes, with 74 votes to Stansbury’s 43.
After the vote, New Mexico Democrat Party Chair Marg Elliston said, “We are so excited to support Melanie Stansbury in the race to become New Mexico’s next strong Democratic representative.” She added, “Her dedication, compassion, and forward-thinking policies are exactly what New Mexicans are looking for in a leader. We look forward to turning out Democrats across this district and electing Representative Stansbury to carry on the legacy of Secretary Haaland by moving our state and our nation toward a brighter future.”
According to the Democrat Party of New Mexico release, Stansbury “is running for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District to lift up the voices of our communities and tackle our biggest challenges from economic development, to food and water security, to climate change.”
The Republican Party of New Mexico, run by former congressman Steve Pearce responded to the news, writing, “Rep. Stansbury is one of the most radical lawmakers in this state. She is simply out of touch with the needs of New Mexico.”
He added, “It’s imperative that voters understand that her views are anti-New Mexico. She wants to ban fracking, supports anti-law enforcement legislation and consistently pushes for more spending and higher taxes on our constituents. She systematically votes with lawmakers who support leftist policies. In Washington Stansbury would vote for similar radical policies that align with the most extreme elements of the Democratic Party, and this will cause irreparable damage to our great state. Our economy and way of life will be threatened. Is this who New Mexicans want representing them in Washington?”
Stansbury will face off against the Republican nominee, moderate state Sen. Mark Moores (R-Bernalillo) in a June 1 special election.
Do you still think Congresswoman Stansbury is standing on a far left political platform ? She seems more like a social butterfly than a politician to me . Let’s hope voters New Mexico can find a more traditionally focused person to represent us in the future . And lastly ,
special elections are not to be used to make special-interest concerns look good as the June 2021 did . Thanks for the reminder .
Keep you sentry posted . New Mexican lives matter .