Special Election Day in CD-1: What you need to know before you vote

It’s Election Day in New Mexico’s First Congressional District to fill Democrat ex-Rep. Deb Haaland’s seat following her abdication to work at the Department of the Interior, and here’s what you have to know: 

Liberal news outlets and pundits have touted the race in the Democrat-leaning district as a “big first test” for Democrats, with cash coming into the state from the deepest crevices in the Washington, D.C. swamp for the Democrats’ nominee, state Rep. Melanie Stansbury.

According to OpenSecrets, large out-of-state organizations, including the sexist abortion up-to-birth and infanticide group EMILY’s List contributed $11,000 to Stansbury’s war chest. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) PAC donated $10,000 to the Democrat, while the fringe leftist group “Elect Democratic Women” chipped in $15,000. 

Stansbury made the racist statement toward displaced Navajo energy workers, telling them to just “sell you art or your wool” to pay the bills. She also has been in the D.C. area for the better part of the last 20 years despite her claims she is in touch with New Mexicans. Despite the backlash over Stansbury’s racism, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. Adam Schiff, and some state legislators have thrown their support behind the extreme candidate. 

According to state Sen. Mark Moores, the Republican nominee for the congressional race, “Stansbury’s original House Personal Financial Disclosure listed her as a “consultant” and receiving at least $5,000 for the TerraMar Project in Woburn MA (1). The TerraMar Project was founded by Jeffrey Epstein’s madame Ghislaine Maxwell who is currently on trial for sex trafficking teenagers.”

Stansbury is also a large proponent of the “BREATHE Act,” which defunds the police and lets dangerous incarcerated criminals back on the streets to ravage communities. 

Mark Moores is a long-time moderate Albuquerque-area legislator who won his primary election, like Stansbury, through a closed-door convention of delegates. He has been strong on some issues, including the right to life. However, he did vote for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Green New Deal, also known as the “Energy Transition Act” and he voted for a trapping ban on public lands to the ire of rural New Mexico, among other bad measures.

Despite his flaws, he is much more conservative than independent longshot perennial candidate Aubrey Dunn, who has focused his campaign on hating President Donald J. Trump, and libertarian Chris Manning who lives hundreds of miles outside of the First District.

Democrats are trying to hype up this race, which leans Democrat, in order to boost their public image following multiple runoff election losses in races across the country this year. They are marketing CD-1 as a bellwether despite its large lean to the left to save face. There is a chance Republican Moores can win, although the early voting totals released by the Secretary of State’s office lean in the Democrat direction. 

If you live in the First District, find out more information here on where to vote today.