special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

was held on June 1, 2021, to fill the vacancy in

New Mexico's 1st congressional district New Mexico's 1st congressional district of the United States House of Representatives serves the central area of New Mexico, including most of Bernalillo County, all of Torrance County, and parts of Sandoval, Santa Fe and Valencia counties. ...

created by Representative

Deb Haaland Debra Anne Haaland (; born December 2, 1960) is an American politician serving as the 54th United States secretary of the interior. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017 and a ...

's resignation from the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

to become the

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

in Joe Biden's

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

. State Representatives

Patricia Roybal Caballero Patricia A. Roybal Caballero (born 1949/1950) is an American politician serving as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from the 13th district. Elected in 2012, she assumed office on January 15, 2013. Education Roybal Caballero ...

, Georgene Louis and

Melanie Stansbury Melanie Ann Stansbury (born January 31, 1979) is an American politician and scientist serving as the U.S. representative from New Mexico's 1st congressional district since 2021. The district includes most of Albuquerque, along with most of its ...

and state Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez sought the Democratic nomination. State Senator Mark Moores, radio host Eddy Aragon and activist Elisa Martinez sought the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination. The Democratic Party nominated Stansbury, the Republican Party nominated Moores, the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

selected Chris Manning; former Commissioner of Public Lands Aubrey Dunn Jr. ran as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. Stansbury won the election with over 60% percent of the vote.

Background

Representative

Michelle Lujan Grisham Michelle Lynn Lujan Grisham (; born October 24, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the List of governors of New Mexico, 32nd governor of New Mexico since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

announced in 2016, that she would seek the Democratic nomination for the 2018 gubernatorial election.

, the former chair of the

Democratic Party of New Mexico The Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is headquartered in Albuquerque and led by Chair Jessica Velasquez, Vice Chair Manny Crespin, Secretary Pamelya Herndon, and T ...

, ran for the seat with the Democratic nomination and won in the 2018 election. She was reelected in the 2020 election. Haaland was selected by President Joe Biden to served as

*Interior ministry ...

and she was approved by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

by a vote of fifty-one to forty. Haaland resigned from her seat on March 16, 2021, and a special election was ordered by the Secretary of State of New Mexico to be held on June 1. Each party's state central committee selected their candidate for the special election instead of using a primary system.

Democratic committee selection

Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a member of the

New Mexico Senate The New Mexico Senate ( es, Senado de Nuevo México) is the upper house of the New Mexico State Legislature. The Senate consists of 42 members, with each senator representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the stat ...

who had run in the 2018 Democratic primary for the seat, and

, a member of the

New Mexico House of Representatives ) is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature. There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , ...

, announced on December 21, 2020, that they would seek the Democratic nomination for the special election. On January 4, 2021, Georgene Louis, a member of the state house, announced that she would seek the Democratic nomination. Victor Reyes, the legislator director for Governor Lujan Grisham, announced on January 8, that he would seek the Democratic nomination.

, a member of the state house, announced her campaign on January 27. Stansbury won the nomination after defeating Sedillo Lopez, who had placed first in the first round of voting, in the runoff.

Candidates

Selected

, state representative

Eliminated in second round

* Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, state senator and candidate for

in 2018

Eliminated in first round

*Francisco Fernández, filmmaker *Selinda Guerrero, community organizer * Georgene Louis, state representative *Randi McGinn, attorney *Victor Reyes, legislative director for

Governor of New Mexico , insignia = Seal of the Governor of New Mexico.svg , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Seal of the Governor , image = File:Michelle Lujan Grisham 2021.jpg , imagesize = 200px , alt = , incumbent = Michelle Lujan Grisham , incu ...

, state representative

Declined

* Javier Martínez, state representative *

Maggie Toulouse Oliver Maggie Toulouse Oliver (born ) is an American politician from the U.S. state, state of New Mexico. She is the 26th Secretary of State of New Mexico and a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Prior to serving as Secr ...

New Mexico Secretary of State The secretary of state of New Mexico is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of New Mexico. Twenty-six individuals have held the office of secretary of state since statehood. Since 1923, every elected N ...

Endorsements

Convention results

Republican committee selection

State Senator Mark Moores was selected by the Republican state central committee to serve as the Republican candidate in the special election on March 27.

Candidates

Selected

* Mark Moores, state senator

Not selected

*Eddy Aragon, radio host and owner of KIVA-AM *Michaela Chavez, bookkeeper *Ronnie Lucero, finance manager *Elisa Martinez, anti-abortion activist and candidate for U.S. Senate in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

*Tracy Trujillo *Jared Vander Dussen, attorney

Withdrew before committee selection

*Michelle Garcia Holmes, retired police detective, nominee for

Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico The lieutenant governor of New Mexico ( es, Lista de Vicegobernadores de Nuevo México) is an elected official in the state of New Mexico that ranks just below the governor of New Mexico. The lieutenant governor is the first person in the order of ...

in 2018, and nominee for this district in

Endorsements

Convention results

Libertarian committee selection

Candidates

Selected

*Chris Manning, staff auditor,

Arizona National Guard The Arizona National Guard is the National Guard of the American state of Arizona. It consists of the Arizona Army National Guard and the Arizona Air National Guard. Both components are part of the Arizona Department of Emergency and Militar ...

veteran, and Libertarian candidate for

New Mexico's 3rd congressional district New Mexico's 3rd congressional district serves the northern half of New Mexico, including the state's Capital, Santa Fe. The district has a significant Native American presence, encompassing most of the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Nation, ...

in 2018

Independents

Aubrey Dunn Jr., who had served as the

New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands The New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch in charge of managing all state lands and mineral rights, as well as overseeing leases and royalties on state land, in the U.S. state of New M ...

as a Republican and Libertarian, filed to run as an

for the seat on January 8, 2021. Two other candidates, Laura Olivas and Robert Ornelas, ran as write-in candidates.

Candidates

Declared

* Aubrey Dunn Jr., former Republican-turned-

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

(2015–2019), Republican candidate for

New Mexico's 2nd congressional district New Mexico's 2nd congressional district serves the southern half of New Mexico, including Las Cruces, Roswell, and the southern fourth of Albuquerque. Geographically, it is the fifth-largest district in the nation and the largest to not co ...

in 2018, and Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018

Certified write-in

* Laura Olivas * Robert Ornelas,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

(previously associated with the

American Independent Party The American Independent Party (AIP) is a far-right political party in the United States that was established in 1967. The AIP is best known for its nomination of former Democratic Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who carried five states in t ...

)

Endorsements

General election

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Results

By county

References

External links

;Official websites for candidates
Aubrey Dunn Jr. (I) for Congress

Chris Manning (L) for Congress

Mark Moores (R) for Congress

Melanie Stansbury (D) for Congress
{{2021 United States elections New Mexico 2021 01 New Mexico 2021 01 2021 01 Special New Mexico 01 Special United States House of Representatives 01 Special United States House of Representatives 2021 01