New Mexico's congressional districts

New Mexico is divided into three congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives.

New Mexico's congressional districts since 2023

The people of the state are currently represented in the 118th United States Congress by three Democrats, Melanie Stansbury, Gabe Vasquez, Teresa Leger Fernandez.

Current districts and representatives

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List of members of the United States House delegation from New Mexico, district boundaries, and the district political ratings, according to the CPVI. The delegation has a total of 3 members, all three Democrats.

Current U.S. representatives from New Mexico
District Member
(Residence)[1]
Party Incumbent since CPVI
(2022)[2]
District map
1st  
Melanie Stansbury
(Albuquerque)
Democratic June 14, 2021 D+5  
2nd  
Gabe Vasquez
(Las Cruces)
Democratic January 3, 2023 D+1  
3rd  
Teresa Leger Fernandez
(Santa Fe)
Democratic January 3, 2021 D+4  

Historical elections summary

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In 2018, Ben Ray Luján was handily elected to a fifth term in the 3rd district and Deb Haaland was elected in the 1st district to fill the seat vacated by Michelle Lujan Grisham when she became governor.[3] The sole Republican representative, from the 2nd District, Steve Pearce retired and was replaced in a highly competitive race[4] by Xochitl Torres Small, a Democrat, leaving the entire state congressional delegation under Democratic control.[5]

In 2020, Representative Xochitl Torres Small was defeated in her bid for re-election by Republican candidate Yvette Herrell, in a rematch of the 2018 election.[6] Deb Haaland successfully defended her seat against a challenge from perennial Republican candidate Michelle Garcia Holmes.[7] Additionally, Representative Ben Ray Luján stepped down from his seat in the 3rd district, in order to run for New Mexico's open Senate seat, which was made vacant by Senator Tom Udall's retirement.[8] Representative Luján won Senator Udall's open senate seat, and Democratic candidate Teresa Leger Fernandez won Representative Luján's open seat over Republican challenger Alexis Martinez Johnson.[9]

Following the 2020 election, New Mexico was the first state to send multiple Native American women as part of their congressional delegation, as Representative Herrell was a member of the Cherokee Nation, and Representative Haaland was a member of the Laguna Pueblo. This made New Mexico one of two states to have multiple Native American representatives, along with Oklahoma. Melanie Ann Stansbury was elected in a special election in 2021[10] when Deb Haaland resigned to become Secretary of the Interior.[11]

In 2022, Democrats Melanie Ann Stansbury in the 1st and Teresa Leger Fernandez in the 3rd handily won re-election. In the competitive 2nd district Gabriel "Gabe" Vasquez eked out a win over Republican incumbent Yvette Herrell.[12]

Historical and present district boundaries

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Until the 1968 elections, New Mexico's representatives were all elected at-large statewide. Starting in 1968, however, they were elected by districts.[13] For Representatives' elections from 1912 to 1966, see New Mexico's at-large congressional district.

For the first election, under the new system of congressional districts in 1968, there were only two, drawn on the basis of the census of 1960. They were not changed after the census of 1970, "because the deviation from the average population of 508,000 was only .62 % ."[14]

Table of United States congressional district boundary maps in the State of New Mexico is presented chronologically.[15] All redistricting events that took place in New Mexico between 1973 and 2013 are shown.

Year Statewide map Albuquerque highlight
1968–1983  
All included in district 1.
1983–1993    
1993–2003    
2003–2013    
2013–2023    
Since 2023    

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  2. ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". The Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  3. ^ "Official Results 2018 General [Election] November 6, 2018". New Mexico Secretary of State. November 27, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022.
  4. ^ Panas, Joshua (November 7, 2018). "Secretary of state declares Torres Small winner of 2nd Congressional District race". KOB-TV. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018.
  5. ^ Kocherga, Angela (November 7, 2018). "Torres Small is apparent winner in 2nd District". Albuquerque Journal. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018.
  6. ^ "Official General Election Results, November 3, 2020". New Mexico Secretary of State. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  7. ^ "New Mexico Election Results: First Congressional District". The New York Times. November 3, 2020.
  8. ^ Acevedo, Nicole (November 4, 2020). "Latinos gain a Senate seat with Ben Ray Lujan's win in New Mexico". NBC News. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  9. ^ "Official General Election Results, November 3, 2020". New Mexico Secretary of State. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  10. ^ Greenwood, Max (June 1, 2021). "Democrat Stansbury wins special election for Haaland's House seat". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021.
  11. ^ Kassel, Matthew (March 16, 2021). "Haaland confirmation sets off mad scramble to claim her seat in Congress". Jewish Insider. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021.
  12. ^ Lee, Morgan (November 9, 2022). "Republican concedes race for New Mexico House seat". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022.
  13. ^ Lavash, Donald (2006). A Journey Through New Mexico History. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-86534-541-6.
  14. ^ Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate (1979). Congressional Anti-gerrymandering Act of 1979: Hearings Before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, First Session, on S. 596, A bill to establish a fair procedure for establishing Congressional Districts, June 20, 21, and July 10, 1979. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 192. OCLC 5795419.
  15. ^ "Digital Boundary Definitions of United States Congressional Districts, 1789–2012". Retrieved October 18, 2014.