New Mexico has just three congressional districts, but as one of just seven states in which Democrats fully control the mapmaking process it has drawn serious attention from national Democrats eager to press any advantage that helps them defend their five-seat majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The map in use for the past decade — drawn by a state court in 2011 — had two Solid Democratic districts and one Republican-leaning district that a Democrat could win in the right conditions.
But for the first time since the 1990s, Republicans were completely shut out of the mapmaking process. So the Democratic-controlled state legislature drew (and the Democratic governor signed into law) a map intended to oust the state’s sole Republican member of Congress: 2nd District Rep. Yvette Herrell.
In doing so, Democrats have increased the exposure of their other two, previously safe, representatives. While their gamble is not as risky as the one made by Democrats in Nevada, it does open the door to the possibility Republicans could win a second district for the first time since 2004, if a GOP wave develops.
1st District
Democrats unpacked Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s Albuquerque-anchored 1st District, moving a quarter of its residents in western Bernalillo County into the 2nd District, according to calculations by Daily Kos Elections.
To replace the lost population, the legislature shifted more of the southeast corner of Sandoval County (Rio Rancho) into the 1st District from the 3rd District. The new 1st also includes all of Guadalupe, De Baca, and Lincoln counties, and parts of Chaves and Otero counties — large pieces of land with small populations from the old 2nd District.
As a result of surrendering some of...