The New Mexico Supreme Court issued an order Monday affirming a lower court’s ruling that the state’s congressional map is constitutional. The state Republican Party had appealed, arguing Democratic lawmakers “egregiously” gerrymandered the 2nd Congressional District, making it difficult for their party to win even one of the state’s three seats.
Of New Mexico’s three congressional districts, the second used to be the only one that performed better for Republicans, according to legislative analysis. In last decade’s map Republicans were likely to receive 53% of votes. The map drawn in 2021 flipped that on its head.
When the Democratic-controlled state Legislature redrew the district, it took out parts of the conservative oil patch in the Southeast and added progressive parts of Albuquerque. The state Republican Party sued, arguing Democratic leaders politically gerrymandered the map in their favor.
Last month, District Court Judge Fred Van Soelen ruled after a two-day bench trial that the majority party had indeed intended to weaken the votes of Republicans in the 2nd District. However, he concluded that their efforts weren’t successful enough to throw out the map as unconstitutional.
Had they been, he found, a Democratic victory would be guaranteed, and it is not. He cited Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s narrow victory last year over Republican Yvette Herrell. He ousted her by only 0.7%.
In its appeal, the New Mexico Republican Party argued it doesn’t have to be impossible, just difficult, for their party to win a seat for Democrats to be entrenched in power.
In its order, the high court concluded that the district court’s findings were supported by “substantial evidence,” and that those findings backed up its ruling. The Justices also found that Van Soelen made no legal errors in his handling of the case. With that, his ruling will stand, as will the congressional map until it is redrawn again in 2031.
With the map still in place, Rep. Vasquez is heading for a likely 2024 rematch with Herrell. A September KOB-TV poll showed a very close race, with Herrell leading by just 1%.
