Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:30 pm
Unlike early in the last president’s term, Republicans were not able to demonstrate any momentum as Democrats blew them out in a House special election.
With 100 percent of the vote in, Democrat Melanie Stansbury defeated Republican Mark Moores Tuesday by 24 points in New Mexico’s special congressional election, 60 percent to 36 percent.
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That’s higher than President Biden’s 23-point victory over Donald Trump in the congressional district last year and higher than former Rep. Deb Haaland’s, D-N.M., 16-point margin when she won re-election. (Haaland is now Biden’s Interior secretary, and her resignation from Congress triggered Tuesday’s special election in New Mexico’s First Congressional District.)
Reading too much into the special election results in one congressional district is a fool’s errand, but early in Trump’s term, Democrats were able to show surprising strength by running competitively in deep-red districts. The results, even when Democrats didn’t win, were a red flag.
Early in Biden’s term, the early indicators suggest that there is no big change brewing and that the status quo is holding. No one has flipped any of the special election House seats, and Republicans have been competitive in the seats opened up by Democrats joining the Biden administration.
Republicans spent a lot of money in New Mexico in the hopes of presenting a show of strength, but instead, they were routed.
There is no building outrage against President Biden and the Democratic House and Senate, which is good news for the party in charge, and it vaguely hints at potential voter contentment and stability in 2022.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
