New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District has a special election on June 1st. Deb Haaland vacated the seat when she joined the Biden administration.
Republican Mark Moores is hitting his Democrat opponent Melanie Stansbury over the idea of defunding the police.
Both parties are watching this race closely for a few reasons.
Emily Brooks reports at the Washington Examiner:
Democrats nervous and GOP hopeful that New Mexico election is 2022 bellwetherNew Mexico’s 1st Congressional District special election will test whether warnings over a left-wing approach to policing and crime work without former President Donald Trump topping the ballot.The June 1 race, for the seat vacated by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, is also an early test on the popularity of President Joe Biden.And it comes at a time when every House seat matters — for both sides. Democrats hold the narrowest House majority since the 1930s, with 219 seats to 211 for Republicans, with five vacancies.Republican Mark Moores, a state senator since 2013 and an owner of a medical testing business, faces Democrat Melanie Stansbury, an Obama administration alumnus and state representative since 2019.Moores has focused his campaign in televised debates and in ads on Stansbury expressing support for the BREATHE Act, a Black Lives Matter-crafted “reimagining of public safety” federal legislation. The proposal would ban police from using Tasers, close federal prisons, and have 911 operators dispatch unarmed mental health professionals instead of police officers.
This ad from the Moores campaign is pretty brutal:
Ally Matunick of Politico notes that this is blue territory but says that even if the election is close, there are warning signs for Democrats:
This Albuquerque-based seat, vacated by Deb Haaland after she was confirmed as interior secretary, is deep-blue territory; Biden won it by 23 points in 2020. Democrats are confident they will hold the seat, as internal polling that shows Stansbury, a state representative, with a comfortable lead. Neither campaign committee nor any major outside group is spending money in the race — a sign that there’s little upset potential here.But the margin still could be telling. And if this race is any indication, Democrats are still grappling with how to address the GOP’s attempt to paint them as radical on issues of policing.“It is a convenient political narrative that he is repeating over and over again in order to reframe the conversation,” Stansbury said of Moores’ message in an interview following a campaign rally this past weekend. “And the conversation that New Mexicans are having is about our economy, pandemic relief, education, and community well-being.”
The simple fact is that Democrats deserve to pay a political price for embracing the radical left, the riots, the fires, the destruction of small businesses, the demonization of law enforcement, and rising crime. All of it.
In 2022 2024, Republicans should go for the throat, even in the bluest districts, just as Moores is doing in New Mexico. They must confront Democrats on their ground and demand that they answer for the destruction.
Featured image via YouTube.
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