Democrat Melanie Stansbury, 42, wins U.S. House race in New Mexico to fill seat vacated by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland
Democrat Melanie Stansbury won election to Congress for New Mexico on Tuesday with a campaign closely tied to initiatives of the Biden administration.
Stanbury, 42, prevailed in an open, four-way race to fill a vacant seat previously held by Deb Haaland, who resigned her seat to become the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the Biden administration.
The state legislator outpaced her Republican rival in the special election by more than 30,000 votes, garnering roughly six of every 10 votes as ballots were tallied into the night.
Stansbury closely tethered her bid for Congress to proposed and enacted Democratic legislation on pandemic relief, infrastructure spending and interventions to slow climate change. Her victory shores up the Democratic majority in Congress ahead of 2022 midterm elections.
She strode on stage in Albuquerque with both arms raised high, in celebration of her win. Thanking supporters and volunteers, she said the grit and determination that fueled her campaign was learned from her own mother, who worked in a denim factory and later as a crane operator.
Melanie Stansbury addresses supporters at the Hotel Albuquerque on Tuesday after winning the election in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District race to fill former U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland's seat
Republican candidate Mark Moores awaits results of the special election at GOP headquarters on Tuesday
Democratic candidate Melanie Stansbury, left, hugs her mother, Sunny Birklund, at the Hotel Albuquerque as results come in for special election
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, center left, hugs Melanie Stansbury, as U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, left, checks his phone at the Hotel Albuquerque on Tuesday
'When the moment demands it, when our families and our communities demand it, when our country demands it, we step up and find the solutions for communities and we figure it out,' Stanbury said.
'And that is exactly what we did in this campaign and that is why I am standing before you tonight.'
Stanbury's victory preserves an all-female House delegation for the state. She defeated third-term Republican state Sen. Mark Moores to fill an Albuquerque-based seat that has been held by Democrats since 2009.
Libertarian nominee Chris Manning and independent Aubrey Dunn Jr. campaigned unsuccessfully to represent the 1st Congressional District, which encompasses Albuquerque, rural Torrance County and other outlying areas that include the Indigenous community of Sandia Pueblo.
Dunn, a former Republican elected to statewide office as land commissioner who didn't seek reelection in 2018, cast himself as a staunch defender of gun rights and an experienced steward of public lands
Manning, who lives far outside the district in Farmington, campaigned on an unorthodox plan to reduce health care costs by eliminating employer-based coverage and insurance requirements.
Moores tried unsuccessfully to flip the seat to Republican control by highlighting concerns about crime in Albuquerque and painting his Democratic opponent as a radical progressive.
He emphasized the need for aggressive drug interdiction and immigration enforcement along the U.S. border with Mexico and uninterrupted oil leasing on federal land as a crucial source of employment in New Mexico.
His campaign seized on concerns about public safety and crime as a core issue, backing more federal dollars for police body cameras that are required in New Mexico and voicing support for police officers.
On Tuesday, Stanbury reiterated her push for a $15 minimum wage, economic and racial equality and police reforms. She said there's a lot of work to do and she wants to give everyone a seat at the table as the country and its infrastructure is rebuilt.
Amid Election Day voting, she emphasized the need for a major round of federal infrastructure spending.
'This is especially important for New Mexico because it includes funding for things like broadband and clean energy,' Stansbury said.
The district's voters have heavily favored Democratic candidates in recent years, shunning former President Donald Trump with a gap of 23 percentage points in 2020 and reelecting Haaland with a margin of 16 percentage points as voter participation reached an all-time high.
Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said from New Mexico that enthusiasm is up among Democrats and that Stansbury's win helps ensure work can continue in Washington on the Democratic agenda.
Melanie Stansbury speaks during a campaign rally in Albuquerque on May 27 - when she was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris' husband Doug Emhoff
Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, campaigns in New Mexico on behalf of Melanie Stansbury, background, during a rally on May 27
Melanie Stansbury, center, takes photos with supporters during a campaign rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 27
New Mexico´s 1st District seat has consistently been a stepping stone to higher office for Republican and Democratic politicians, including now-deceased Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr., former U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The district relies heavily on federal military and research funding as home to Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Laboratories.
Trump in 2020 fell flat with Albuquerque-area voters after he sent federal agents to bolster local law enforcement efforts.
Republicans last year flipped the state's sprawling 2nd Congressional District in southern New Mexico as Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo ousted incumbent U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small.
Tuesday's election is among a handful of races to fill vacancies in Congress ahead of 2022 midterm elections. Democrats held a 219-211 majority in Congress going into Tuesday´s vote in New Mexico.
A special election has been scheduled for November 2 to fill the seat representing Ohio's 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House after Marcia Fudge was confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
The Senate voted 66-34 to confirm Fudge on March 10.
A special election will also be heled in November to fill the seat representing Florida's 20th Congressional District in the U.S. House previously held by Alcee Hastings, a Democrat who died on April 6 at the age of 84.
Another special election will be held to fill the seat representing Ohio's 15th Congressional District left by Steve Stivers, a Republican who resigned on May 16 to become the President and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
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