Particular Home election measures political pulse after Trump – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

SANTA FE, NM – (AP) – A special election in Congress is re-examining the political pulse of politics in the greater Albuquerque area and some remote rural communities in one of the few House election campaigns since President Joe Biden took office.

The election to succeed Deb Haaland in Congress on Tuesday had four names on the ballot after she was confirmed as Secretary of the US Department of the Interior. After weeks of early voting, the polling stations will be closed on Sunday and Monday before they reopen on election day, with registration possible on the same day.

New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District has heavily favored Democratic candidates in recent years, shunned President Donald Trump by 23 percentage points in 2020, and re-elected Haaland by 16 percentage points as voter turnout hit an all-time high.

Those margins bode well for Democratic second-term MP Melanie Stansbury as she competes against Republican Senator Mark Moores. Republicans hope to undermine the 219-211 Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives before the 2022 midterm elections.

Stansbury, a land use and water policy advisor, has embraced Biden’s core agenda for post-pandemic economic recovery, free universal preschool and infrastructure spending to modernize energy and transportation to combat global warming. In recent debates, she has advocated a national minimum wage of $ 15, reforms to combat police misconduct and systemic racism, and a more humanitarian approach to immigration.

Moores has emphasized the need for an aggressive drug ban and immigration enforcement along the US border with Mexico, as well as the continuous leasing of state oil as a key source of employment in New Mexico. His campaign has taken public safety and crime concerns as a core issue, supported more federal funding for police cameras needed in New Mexico, and supported law enforcement officers.

A tough approach by Trump to crime in 2020 failed among voters in the Albuquerque area after dispatching federal agents to aid local law enforcement efforts. Still, crime remains an issue for the city.

Two other candidates are vying for free voters in a state with strong currents of libertarian politics.

Independent contender Aubrey Dunn Jr., a former Republican elected to nationwide office as land commissioner and not re-elected in 2018, has portrayed himself as a staunch gun rights defender and veteran public land manager. Libertarian nominee Chris Manning, who lives well outside of the 1st Ward in Farmington, is campaigning for an unorthodox plan to cut healthcare costs by eliminating employer-based coverage and insurance requirements.

The potential for low turnout in the vacant elections adds an element of uncertainty – and a sense of rare opportunity among Republicans, who make up 31% of registered voters in the First Congressional District.

The electoral district includes Albuquerque, rural Torrance County, and other remote areas that include the indigenous community of Sandia Pueblo.

Registered Democrats dominated the early polls, casting about twice as many votes as registered Republicans on Friday.

University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson notes that both major party candidates have been dealing with attack reports and negative campaigns – a sign that neither campaign is confident.

“Nobody felt so safe that they could just live it out in a positive way. So you both feel a little stressed, “said Atkeson. “I mean, we never saw Deb Haaland ad badly.”

The Democratic National Committee took Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, to New Mexico Thursday to promote Stansbury. At a rally with unions and other supporters, Emhoff acknowledged the Democrats’ slim lead in Congress and said the election of Stansbury would help the party’s legislative initiatives make it onto the president’s desk.

Moores has repeatedly tried to link Stansbury to the Black Lives Movement’s so-called BREATHE Act proposal, which would divert taxpayers’ spending from traditional police agencies and invest in alternative approaches to public safety. And he says Stansbury voted for a bill in 2019 that benefited their advisory client.

Stansbury said she has helped law enforcement agencies coordinate spending on police infrastructure and initiatives at the state legislature. She beat up Moore for speaking out against some pandemic relief efforts while accepting $ 1.8 million in federal aid for his medical testing business.

Moores frequently cites Latin American family ties that date back to the region’s Spanish colonial days, in a state where Hispanic pride is an ongoing part of politics.

Atkeson sees this as an obvious attempt by Moore to win over socially conservative Latinos who might otherwise vote for Democrats.

The 1st Congressional District has been controlled by Democrats since 2009.

The seat has always been a stepping stone to higher offices for Republican and Democratic politicians, including the late Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr., former US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, US Senator Martin Heinrich and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.

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