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You are here: Home / Politics / Melanie Stansbury Replaces Deb Haaland in New Mexico!

Melanie Stansbury Replaces Deb Haaland in New Mexico!

by | 69 Comments

This post is in: ,

I can’t believe this hasn’t been front-paged yet.  Maybe we’ll see another post about this later today.

From Axios:

Democrat Melanie Stansbury defeated her Republican opponent Mark Moores in the special election to represent New Mexico’s 1st congressional district, a House seat vacated when Deb Haaland was confirmed as President Biden’s Interior secretary, per AP.

Why it matters: Stansbury’s victory Tuesday night will grow Democrats’ thin majority in the House to nine seats.

The big picture: Though Biden won the Democratic-leaning by 23 points in November, the race was seen as a potential litmus test for the strength of the party.

Stansbury was selected to run by New Mexico Democratic officials in April over Latina and Native American candidates. State law allows for state parties to pick their nominees instead of conducting primary elections.

Moores, who serves in New Mexico’s state legislature with Stansbury, campaigned heavily on crime and law-and-order rhetoric, per the New York Times.

It looks like Axios is pushing the fact that Stansbury was selected to run by democratic officials, and she was chosen over some Latina and Native American candidates.  Is this an issue in New Mexico, or is he just trying to make it an issue?

It looks to me like they chose someone who could win, and she did!  And now we have a slightly more comfortable margin in the House.

Update:  On a slightly related note – during our two week effort, Balloon Juice raised 22,650 for Four Directions.  With the 50k match, that makes it just over 45,000.  Heartfelt thanks to every single person who donated, including our anonymous angel donor who made the donation that left all of us over the moon.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, all!

Reader Interactions

69Comments

  2. 2.

    cain

    Yay – after all that scary stuff with Israel – it’s nice to see some good news.

    ETA – ohhh myyy – #2 – it’s been so long!

  7. 7.

    MisterForkbeard

    My understanding is that she won by about the same percentage Biden did. That’s actually great news – it means the Trumpkins aren’t super motivated, our voters are still motivated, or more likely that they’re motivated about the same amount. But Dems tend to do worse in special elections, so this is especially good news.

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodingers_cat: Wow, last I heard, it was 15%.  25% is outstanding.

    I thought it was Deb Haaland who had won by 23%, and Biden by 15%?  I’m juggling 3 things at the moment, or I would verify that.

    Nope, SC was right.  See confirmation at #12.

  11. 11.

    Martin

    So, going way under the radar, CA’s task force on reparations for slavery met for the first time yesterday. It’s unclear to me whether it’s narrowly focused on slavery, something CA didn’t have, or more broadly on government harm to african-americans, because we sure as shit had our fair share of redlining, sundown towns, and all that.

    Not remotely as meaningful as if the feds or SC or MS did it, but we’ve got money right now, and we can set the precedent and challenge the nation to follow.

  12. 12.

    Martin

    @WaterGirl: Biden won by 23%. Anything over 15% (Haaland) margin was considered excellent news. Anything over 23% was monumental news.

  13. 13.

    Brachiator

    It looks like Axios is pushing the fact that Stansbury was selected to run by democratic officials, and she was chosen over some Latina and Native American candidates.  Is this an issue in New Mexico, or is he just trying to make it an issue?

    This seems to be something of an issue, from how I read the story, but not enough to prevent voters there from stomping the GOP candidate into the ground.

  15. 15.

    H.E.Wolf

    Woooh!! That’s great news. Melanie Stansbury is a scientist, teacher, and (now former) member of the NM State House. She was the sponsor of a bill that eliminated co-pays for school lunches in NM. She’ll be an asset to the US Congress!

    I wrote 40 postcards for her. :)​​

    Website: Melanie for NM

  18. 18.

    dexwood

    Melanie is the daughter of friend we’ve known since the late 70s. She’s smart, talented, and a hard worker. New Mexico and the nation is lucky to have her.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    @H.E.Wolf: what’s going on with your links lately?  I’m sure it’s not you, but I’d like to get it figured out.

    I typed “Melanie for NM”, highlighted that, and pasted in the link.

    Is that what you do?

    (I fixed yours, by the way)

  23. 23.

    Mary G

    The Federalist Society needs to go:

    NEW: I spoke with Nick Wallace, the student who is not allowed to graduate from Stanford Law next week because a top member of the school's Federalist Society chapter issued a formal complaint against him for making fun of FedSoc. https://t.co/gtrIlUfFOd @Slate— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 2, 2021

  29. 29.

    JPL

    @H.E.Wolf:  I read that her opponent ran ads citing defund the police and crime rates, and she ran strong against that.    I hope democrats in red states take notice.

  30. 30.

    dexwood

    @JPL: Her opponent ran ads painting her as a scarey, dangerous liberal who would endanger the country. You know, typical Republican bullshit. She kicked his ass.

  34. 34.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Saw a statement by a local politico that CD-1 (Haaland’s/ Stansbury’s district) used to be Republican, but they’ve had enough of insurrection. I don’t know whether that was based on conversations or anything besides the politico’s intuition. Would be very good if true and an indicator of sentiment elsewhere.

  35. 35.

    MomSense

    @JPL:

    Fuck.  There’s a rumor that Russians hacked Facebook / facebook’s verified accounts yesterday.

  36. 36.

    H.E.Wolf

    <a href=”#comment-8187266″ [email protected]: what’s going on with your links lately? I’m sure it’s not you, but I’d like to get it figured out.​ 

    The resumption of ads deactivated my linking powers. (I reported it in the “fixing the blog” posts, earlier.)

    Thank you for fixing the failed link in this thread for me!​

  37. 37.

    H.E.Wolf

    @C Stars: ​@H.E.Wolf: Wow, thank you for your service!!

    There are a whole bunch of Postcards To Voters writers on this here blog. And most of them write many more cards than I do! However, I’m pretty sure I win first place in Quantity of White-out Utilized. :)

    [ETA: You’re welcome! Much appreciated.]

  38. 38.

    cain

    What a lovely press release by Sinema with her best bud, Cornyn – where she re-iterate her ‘no’ on the filibuster reform. Such a snake.

    I think BIden is going to have to do something unprecedented – since we can’t seem to get the senate to do anything from here on in.

  39. 39.

    cain

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Alpha Centauri –  I don’t know what those assholes will do to the sun once they get there. At least this way, it will take millions of light years to get there.

  40. 40.

    West of the Rockies

    OT, but has it yet been noted that the vaunted TFG blog last only 2 & 9/10 Scaramucci’s?

  41. 41.

    Mike in NC

    The Washington Post has an article up on why Florida is becoming more and more Republican. The answer seems to be conservative retirees moving down there from the Midwest, looking for low taxes and warm weather.

    That reminded me of reading about Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, whose biggest interests in the early 1900s were (1) draining the Everglades, and (2) evicting all African-Americans from the state. So some things remain as they were more than a hundred years ago. You go, Floriduh Man!

  42. 42.

    Major Major Major Major

    Woohoo! Although we shouldn’t augur much from the entrails of a special or two

    In other news, I’m excited for the NYC mayoral debate this evening. Hoping to nail down who I’m voting for.

  44. 44.

    hilts

    Wow, Two back to back genuinely good news stories!

    This victory in New Mexico and the shutdown of that moronic blog, From the Butt Crack of Donald J. Trump.

    More feel good news stories like these please.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    @Mike in NC:   And won’t all that low taxing of residents  work out beautifully as Florida needs major, major funding should it want to build seawalls.

    But — don’t tax those geezers and Boomers!  No no no.

  50. 50.

    Anoniminous

    NM 1 was a safe GOP seat for 40 years.  Heinrich won it in 2008 55% to 45% which was a shocker at the time.  Heinrich moved up to the Senate in 2012 with Michelle Grisham taking the seat until 2020 when she was election governor and Deb Haaland won.

    @Cheryl Rofer:    whoever said that is full of bullshit.  NM has been a solid D seat since 2008

  51. 51.

    Ken

    @Mary G: @WaterGirl: I’m going to have to change my idea about the intelligence of deer. It was clearly aware it was safe, and was playing. Near the end it even hid from the dog, stepped out a little, and waited until the dog noticed before it began the race.

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    @Mary G:

    Good god, I know Stanford houses the Hoover Institute (where Kissinger and Condi frolic in the moonlight, naked) but I didn’t know they were being dragged around by the nose by the junior Federalists. Screw that noise–tuition at Stanford Law must be the lion’s share of $100k/year.

  54. 54.

    Auntie Anne

    @MomSense: I am thrilled by our donation to Four Directions.  I was so impressed by them even before we got to “meet” them – they are just awesome.

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL:   He’s not being reinstated in August, either.

    Come on, powers that be.  Indict!  Indict.  (But we can be patient if you need time to make an even better case against TFG et al.  Just not too long, you hear?)

  56. 56.

    Anoniminous

    If nobody has noted this:  Trump’s blog has gone dark, no plans to re-open.

    And if somebody has noted it: Trump’s blog has still gone dark, no plans to re-open.

    It is an Ex-blog.  It’s passed on. The blog is no more. It’s has ceased to be.  It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, It rests in peace.

  58. 58.

    JPL

    @Elizabelle: trump understands that he can’t be indicted while in office, which is why he is in panic mode.   If they are looking a RICO charges, it will take a while, I fear.

  59. 59.

    Mary G

    @Ken: The deer was also not taking it out of first gear so the dog, who was running full out, would think he had a chance of winning. The deer would kick it into high gear near the end so as to actually win, though. And the peekaboo around the pillar to start the next lap is just adorable.

    A bunch of people in the comments said that their dogs also play with deer. I never knew it was a thing.

  60. 60.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL:   RICO is good.  I rather hope we see RICO against the Republican party, and would it be suitable against the NRA, too?

    I can be patient.

  61. 61.

    MisterForkbeard

    @H.E.Wolf: Yeah. What I saw this morning was that she won by 21%, but the numbers weren’t final.

    It looks like her margin was really exceptional.

  63. 63.

    MomSense

    BTW the second gentleman Doug Emhoff campaigned in NM for Stansbury.

    He has quite a following.  It’s not in your face but he’s very popular.

  64. 64.

    Subsole

     

     

    @cain: Why would you do that to the poor Planetmind??

     

    Now that I think about it, half the bad guys in that Sid Meier game would fit right into today’s GOP…

  66. 66.

    Pastafarian

    The latina thing is actually a thing. New Mexico is a minority majority state. It was claimed for the King of Spain in 1598. (My husband’s family has actually been here since that time.) The Hispano culture is unique and the native New Mexico Hispanos embrace it. (Hispano, not Hispanic. It’s an actual ethnic classification). As a result in Districts 1 and 3, generally the Hispanos support candidates who are also Hispano, or who are perceived to be Hispano. I’ve seen my husband vote for the Hispano last name, when it’s the choice between a candidate with an Anglo last name.

    However, Mark Moores, who never used Trumps name once, was a creepy looking fat guy, with few dollars, and no message other than “she’ll defund the police”. He did however claim Hispano heritage.

  67. 67.

    dexwood

    @Pastafarian: I don’t know if he never once mentioned tfg’s name. If I had to bet, I’d put money on he did somewhere, sometime. I did read a story, lost to me in the depths, where he was directly asked if he would accept an endorsement from the tfg and he said yes, he would. Moores is a phony. His earliest ads bragged about him being a college football player like that was really the most important thing. Last week I received a text from his campaign inviting me to meet him at a large, phony, Christian, greed-worshipping church. My reply was a simple fuck Mark Moores.

  68. 68.

    Pastafarian

    @dexwood</a@dexwood:  I never saw it in any of his commercials. Unlike when Herrell and what’s her name were fighting it out in CD 2 during the GOP primary. I’m in CD 3, but still had to watch all the ads.

  69. 69.

    Pastafarian

    That seat was held by the GOP for 40 yrs. Heather Wilson held it for 10 years, but decided to run for an open Senate seat in 08, (held by a Republican who was retiring). She lost the primary. Meanwhile Democrat Martin Henrich won the Congressional seat in CD 1. Its been blue ever since. He is now a Senator. NM went for Gore in 2000, but only by about 380 some votes. NM went for Bush in 04. However since 08 it has been blue in Presidential races. The Governors switch back & forth. I’m in CD 3, which is reliably blue. CD 2 to the South is pretty much red.  All our Senators are Democrats.

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