State Rep. Melanie Stansbury is an exception.
If senators confirm Haaland as Cabinet secretary of the Interior Department, Stansbury wants to replace her in the U.S. House of Representatives.
âI do intend to throw my hat in the ring,â Stansbury, D-Albuquerque, said in an interview.
Stansbury, 41, ran for public office for the first time in 2018. She made an emphatic entry, defeating seven-term Republican Rep. Jimmie Hall in District 28, Albuquerqueâs Northeast Heights.
Hall might have underestimated Stansbury in the beginning. He hadnât been pressed in reelection campaigns, and his district had slightly more registered Republicans than Democrats.
After Stansbury bested him in the early rounds of fundraising, Hall knew he was in a tough race. He couldnât rebound at that stage.