With the outcome of the Republican primary still uncertain, Teresa Leger Fernandez has won the Democratic Party nomination to succeed Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) as the House member for the congressional district covering the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Leger Fernandez, an attorney with deep New Mexico roots and endorsements from national party leaders, claimed 41% of the vote (with 95% counted) in a primary field of seven candidates. That placed her directly ahead of former Central Intelligence Agency officer Valerie Plame, who took about 25% of the vote, according to figures from The New York Times.
Plame officially conceded the primary to Leger Fernandez on Facebook, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported Wednesday. She urged supporters to support Leger Fernandez in the Nov. 3 general election.
Wednesday morning news reports cited the Republican primary as still too close to call. Alexis Johnson, an engineer who has worked for Exelon Power, was leading former Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya by 1,000 votes, with absentee ballots still to be counted, according to the New Mexican.
The 3rd Congressional District traditionally leans toward the Democratic Party. The district includes all or part of 16 counties within the northern part of New Mexico.
Lujan announced in April he would give up the House seat he has held since 2009 to campaign this year for the Senate spot opening with the retirement of Sen. Tom Udall (D).
Lujan, who has taken significant interest in DOE nuclear installations in New Mexico as a member of House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, will face off against television meteorologist Mark Ronchetti, the GOP nominee, on Nov. 3.
Ronchetti, formerly with KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, garnered about 55% of the vote in a three-way Republic primary on Tuesday. In addition to Lujan, Libertarian Bob Walsh will be the third candidate on the Senate ballot this fall. Both Lujan and Walsh were unopposed in their primaries, the New Mexican reported.
In New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, Yvette Herrell, a former member of the state House of Representatives, won the Tuesday Republican primary, claiming 45% of the vote and finishing ahead of Claire Chase with about 32% of the vote in a three-person contest.
With the victory, Harrell will take on first-term incumbent Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D) in the general election. The district is centered in southern New Mexico and includes DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, according to the Ballotpedia website.
Torres Small, an attorney and onetime field representative for Udall, won the seat in November 2018 by defeating Harrell 51% to 49%.
In the 1st Congressional District, which includes most of Albuquerque and the Sandia National Laboratories offices, first-term incumbent Debra Haaland (D) was unopposed in the Democratic Party primary, Republican Michelle Garcia Holmes, who has run unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor, won Tuesday’s three-person GOP primary with 48% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia.
