Democrat Melanie Stansbury won the special election for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. However, Republican Mark Moores made a play for the seat in this deep-blue district by attacking Democrats on rising crime.
Democrats may have won, but this race made them nervous. The GOP should go after seats like this across the country. You can’t win if you don’t play.
Dartunorro Clark reports at NBC News:
Democrat Melanie Stansbury wins N.M. special election, holding narrow U.S. House majorityDemocratic state Rep. Melanie Stansbury won the New Mexico special congressional election Tuesday, beating back Republican challenger Mark Moores to fill the seat of Deb Haaland, President Joe Biden’s interior secretary.The race to represent New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Albuquerque, was called by The Associated Press after polls closed at 9 p.m. ET. Stansbury prevailed in a four-way contest after campaigning in support of major initiatives of the Biden administration. Her victory shores up the Democrats’ narrow 219-211 majority in Congress ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.Critics argued that Moores, a state senator, exploited the rising murder rate in Albuquerque and called Stansbury soft on crime for supporting the BREATHE Act, which has provisions to cut federal funding from police departments.
This race was not a walk in the park for Stansbury. Democrats brought in the big guns to protect this seat.
Emily Brooks reports at the Washington Examiner:
Democrats fended off a Republican attempt to make New Mexico’s First Congressional District special election a sign of a red wave to come in 2022, with Melanie Stansbury projected to win the seat. The presumed victory comes after some help from national Democrats flying in to campaign for her and funneling donations her way…To prevent a surprise Republican victory, Stansbury got help from national Democratic groups and politicians. The Democratic National Committee, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and others blasted their email lists with fundraising appeals for Stansbury. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Pete Aguilar of California traveled to New Mexico to campaign for her in the last week of the election.
Democrats are cheering for Stansbury’s win, but this district went for Biden by over 20 points in November.
They should not have had to play defense here.
Featured image via YouTube.
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