Democrat Melanie Stansbury wins New Mexico House special election


Democrats are keeping the New Mexico House seat that was vacated by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in March, The Associated Press projects.
State Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D) won Tuesday's special election, defeating Republican state Sen. Mark Moores to represent New Mexico's 1st Congressional District. With more than 70 percent of the vote in, Stansbury leads Moores by almost 30 points.
Stansbury went into the special election leading Moores in the polls, but Republicans were hoping they could flip the seat ahead of next year's midterms. President Biden won New Mexico's 1st Congressional District by 23 points in November, and Haaland — who vacated the seat after becoming the first Native American to lead the Department of the Interior — won her re-election by more than 16 points.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In her victory speech Tuesday night, Stansbury told supporters "this moment is not just about standing up, but about leaning into the moment and bringing fundamental change to our politics and to our country. You made it possible for us to win this race and hold this seat ... because of the importance to this race for delivering President Joe Biden's agenda."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLS
speed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National Guard
Speed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crime
Speed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline