With U.S. House elections underway, several bills that haven’t yet gotten a vote on the House floor could hang in the balance, including proposals for immigration reform, compensation for radiation exposure and federal protections for reproductive rights. Pocketbook issues are also top of mind for many New Mexico voters as inflation finally begins to fall. Candidates for New Mexico Congressional District 1, Democratic incumbent Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Republican challenger Steve Jones, have differing stances on the federal government’s role in resolving these matters, and how Congress should go about it.
The Economy
While Stansbury described this year’s general election as having extraordinarily high stakes, telling KUNM that “everything is on the line,” she said the economy is near the top of the list.
The Representative touted three recent federal laws as making a sizable difference in rebuilding the economy after the pandemic.
“We passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is building broadband and roads and water pipelines. We passed the CHIPS and Science Act, which is investing in our national labs and our tech industry here in New Mexico,” she said. “And we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which is lowering costs in health care, prescription drug costs, energy costs.”
She said the packages create a more resilient economy while helping New Mexicans access better-paying jobs.
“But there’s a lot more to be done,” she said. “And that’s why I’m working on tackling affordable housing, on hunger issues.”
Her challenger, Republican Steve Jones, is a former CPA and oil industry financial executive. He wants to see the federal government rein in such spending.
A staunch supporter of states’ rights, Jones said one role the federal government should have in lifting up New Mexicans hurting financially is instituting a $15 minimum wage tied to the cost of living.
“If we don’t have the ability to have a minimum living standard that’s protected by the federal government across all states, then basically we’re doomed,” he said.
Backing such a steep hike is not a common position in the Republican Party, which is often looking out for the interests of business owners and “job creators.” But Jones said he won’t tow the party line.
“It won’t matter to me if 99.9% of Republicans say, ‘No, we don’t want you to vote for this bill.’ If I believe that that is a correct vote, I’m going to vote [for] it,” he said.
He applauded Democrats, for instance, for ending Medicare’s ban on negotiating drug prices through the Inflation Reduction Act.
But what would he tell New Mexico business owners who say they cannot afford to pay $15 an hour? He prefaced his response with, “You’re not going to like this.”
“That’s exactly the same thing the plantation owners of the South said when they were trying to abolish slavery. ‘I can’t have a cotton farm or whatever if I don’t have all this free labor,’” he said. “So, if the only way these businesses can subsist is by people working hard for less than the minimum living standard? I’m sorry, they should not be in business.”
Stansbury ran on a federal $15 minimum wage in 2021. While it is less central to her economic platform this year, a spokesperson for her campaign confirmed she still backs the policy.
Jones said he also supports public/private partnerships to empower more New Mexicans to enter the skilled trades.
Immigration reform and border security
Earlier this year, Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan immigration bill. Speaker of the House Milke Johnson called it “dead on arrival.” Both border state candidates are running on getting some version of reforms through the House in the next Congress.
Stansbury blames former President Donald Trump for pressuring Republicans to kill that bill in order to run on immigration as a problem. She said she will push for reforms to include pathways to citizenship, a fair and just asylum system, and humane treatment of people showing up on the U.S. border.
If the previous bill gets resurrected, Stansbury said it needs some work.
“I think there are equities around asylum reform that were not addressed in the original package,” she said. “And, frankly, we really need to address the issues around asylum and immigration reform more broadly as part of that package. It was heavily focused on border security, which is also important, but we need to be doing both.”
Jones said he would also like to see Congress pass a comprehensive immigration bill, but was not sure whether it should be the one his party blocked.
“I don’t know. I did not read that bill,” he told KUNM. “But it needs to be something that is clear and agreed to by both parties. Demagoguery is abounding on this whole issue.”
On his campaign website, Jones calls for “strong borders,” including “the strategic construction of physical barriers in key areas.”
“Let’s talk about the word “strong,” because that implies something I didn’t want to imply. And that is that somehow the creation of a monstrous wall is going to solve that. That is not what I was talking about,” he said when asked about his platform. “What I’m talking about is a rule of law that we all agree to and follow, which holds accountable some people wanting to enter the country. And, if they enter illegally, holding them accountable for that.”
He said he also supports quickening the process to become a citizen and allowing those who graduate from U.S. universities to stay in the county.
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)
Other legislation that has stalled in Congress this year is the extension and expansion of RECA, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
Stansbury said House Speaker Mike Johnson is “literally the one person that’s holding that bill up,” after refusing to bring it up for a vote. She said she is continuing to fight for it to see the light of day.
“This is just a fundamental justice and human rights issue,” she said. “That people who were subjected to radiation poisoning because of the U.S. government cannot get basic compensation and are having to ride in a bus across the United States to plead with the Speaker of the House to take up legislation, which we know will pass, is just outrageous.”
Jones agreed that Johnson should allow a vote, but was unfamiliar with the proposal’s details.
“I believe in the concept,” he said. “Now, I haven’t read the bill.”
At a debate on KOB-TV, Stansbury accused Jones of lacking both experience and understanding of various issues.
Federal Abortion Protections
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2021, abortion policy fell to each state, some of which have instituted restrictions. Stansbury said her day-one priority if reelected would be to again secure federal reproductive rights.
“We have to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which I’m a co-sponsor of, and which would restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land,” she said. “And I believe that if and when we win the House and Senate and the Presidency, it’ll be the first thing to pass.”
Jones, who is a Lutheran, said he believes a pregnant person is “two souls,” and described himself as having a “respect for life.” Though, that goes far beyond the issue of abortion.
“[I am] anti-war and it gets worse,” he joked, “I’m also a vegetarian. Yeah, I go really, really extreme in terms of respect for life.”
He said he was a conscientious objector while serving as an Army medic in the Vietnam war.
“People often say, ‘What if someone broke into your home and was going to kill you?’ And I say, ‘Well, I don’t possess a gun, never have shot a gun, so obviously I would die,’” he said. “But that’s part of the devotion you have to have to respecting life — that you would willingly give up your life rather than take another’s life.”
He supports abortion policy staying with the states. While personally opposed to the procedure, he said he would respect New Mexico’s progressive stance.
“I believe in CD1 the majority of people believe that there should be the right to terminate the pregnancy. I won’t call it ‘life,’ because I know that provokes some people,” he said. “But, having recognized that and chosen to run as a congressman in CD1, then under God I make the oath that, relative to this subject, I will in fact defer to the majority.”
With similar reasoning, Jones said that because he has accepted the Republican Party’s nomination he will support all of its candidates, including Trump.
“Do I endorse Donald Trump? I do not. Do I send him money? I do not. Do I volunteer for him? I do not,” he said. “Will I vote for him? Yes I will.”
With Stansbury’s name recognition and a 14-point lead in the latest poll, Jones is a longshot candidate in a district that hasn’t elected a Republican since 2006.
