New Mexico candidate aims to become 1st Native congresswoman
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The Democratic nominee for a U.S. House seat in New Mexico is looking to make history as the first Native American woman elected to Congress, advancing to November's general election as state and national voters embraced a wave of progressive female candidates.
Tuesday's primary upended the political landscape in New Mexico by setting up showdowns this fall between women in two open congressional seats. Former state Democratic Party leader Debra Haaland will try to become the first Native congresswoman, while a woman will represent the most Hispanic congressional district in the most Hispanic state in the nation for the first time.
Political currents in the state have shifted dramatically since Republican Gov. Susana Martinez cruised to re-election in 2014, said Michelle Lujan Grisham, a three-term congresswoman who won the Democratic nomination for governor.
New Mexico's Democratic nominee to the Albuquerque-based congressional district, Debra Haaland, speaks at a celebratory breakfast in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. Haaland is trying to become the first Native American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Tuesday's primary election upended the political landscape in New Mexico by setting up general-election showdowns between women in two open congressional seats and casting aside an incumbent Democratic state lawmaker who is embroiled sexual harassment accusations. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
She could become the nation's second elected Latina governor if she succeeds Martinez, who cannot run for a consecutive third term.
With people frustrated over lagging economic opportunity and employment, Lujan Grisham hopes to offer distinct solutions in the general election against U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.
"We're going to have a very different approach," Lujan Grisham said of her campaign and Pearce's. "Creating a strong, sound economy is not mutually exclusive with taking care of our most vulnerable."
Pearce has highlighted his own childhood brushes with poverty as the son of failed Texas sharecroppers. He said he wants to help people "achieve the dignity that comes from having a good job."
With Lujan Grisham's central New Mexico seat open, Haaland won the Democratic nod and will face former Republican state lawmaker Janice Arnold-Jones, who ran unopposed in the primary, and Libertarian candidate Lloyd Princeton. A Republican hasn't represented the 1st Congressional District since 2009.
Haaland isn't the only Native American woman on November's ballot in the U.S. West. In Idaho, Democrat Paulette Jordan is in a longshot bid to become the nation's first female Native American governor.
At a celebratory breakfast Wednesday for Democratic nominees, Haaland said she strived to be the most progressive candidate in her primary race.
She recounted years of travails as a party activist in rallying voters from remote tribal lands to go to the polls and urged supporters to stay in good humor as the general election approaches.
"Let's have some fun, too," Haaland said. "We just need to make sure we get our voters out."
Gabriel Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico, said it was too soon to forecast whether New Mexico could be part of a national "blue wave" of voting that might overwhelm Republicans in the fall. He said Republicans had very few competitive primary races in New Mexico to drive turnout.
In the 2nd Congressional District along the U.S.-Mexico border, Republican state Rep. Yvette Herrell will take on Democratic attorney Xochitl Torres Small in the general election. The congressional race is one of many expected to draw national attention because it may help determine which party controls the U.S. House.
State Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard won the Democratic nomination for New Mexico public land commissioner, which oversees government oil holdings. She would be the first woman to hold the job if she beats Republican Patrick Lyons of Cuervo.
For the Senate, incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and GOP challenger Mick Rich both ran unopposed in the primaries and moved on to the November contest.
New Mexico Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham talks about here Democratic primary election victory in the race for New Mexico governor at a coffee shop in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. Primary elections upended the political landscape in New Mexico by setting up general-election showdowns between women in two open congressional seats and casting aside an incumbent Democratic state lawmaker who is embroiled sexual harassment accusations. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
New Mexico's Democratic nominee to U.S. Congress, Debra Haaland, left, applauds at a celebratory breakfast in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday, June 6, 2018, alongside state Sen. Howie Morales, who was nominated to run for lieutenant governor in the fall general election. Haaland is trying to become the first Native American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Tuesday's primary election upended the political landscape in New Mexico by setting up general-election showdowns between women in two open congressional seats and casting aside an incumbent Democratic state lawmaker who is embroiled sexual harassment accusations .(AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state Sen. Howie Morales celebrate in Albuquerque, M.M., Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Grisham won the Democratic nomination for governor, and Morales the nomination for lieutenant governor. (AP Photo/Juan Antonio Labreche)
State Rep. Yvette Herrell, R, smiles as she discovers she is in the lead in the Republican primary for the U.S. Representative District 2 race, Tuesday, June 5, 2018 in Alamogordo, N.M. (Jacqueline Devine/Daily News via AP)
Xochitl Torres Small, center, hugs Fidel Sanchez, left, as he and his wife Rosemarie Sanchez, right, congratulate her for winning the democratic nomination for Congressional District Two, Tuesday June 5, 2018, at Amaro Winery in Las Cruces, N.M. (Josh Bachman/Las Cruces Sun News via AP)
Deb Haaland poses for a portrait in a Nob Hill Neighborhood in Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, June 5, 2018. New Mexico voters will narrow the field in two competitive congressional races, including one in a district along the Mexico border involving a GOP-held seat that Democrats have long targeted. Haaland, a tribal member of Laguna Pueblo, is aiming to become the first Native American woman in Congress. (AP Photo/Juan Labreche)
