WASHINGTON — Democrats avoided a potentially embarrassing upset in New Mexico on Tuesday with state Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s victory over Republican state Sen. Mark Moores in the special election for
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Democrat Melanie Stansbury won election to Congress for New Mexico on Tuesday with a campaign closely tied to initiatives of the Biden administration.
Stanbury prevailed in an open, four-way race to fill a vacant seat previously held by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The 42-year-old state legislator outpaced her Republican rival 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.
State Rep. Melanie Stansbury, the Democratic candidate in a much-watched special election for a vacant House seat in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, crushed the Republican candidate in the race, state Sen. Mark Moores, by nearly 25 points.
Her victory preserves an all-female House delegation for the state. Libertarian nominee Chris Manning and independent Aubrey Dunn Jr. campaigned unsuccessfully.