The 2008 congressional elections in New Mexico were held on November 4, 2008 to determine

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

's representation in 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. The party primary elections were held June 3, 2008.

Martin Heinrich Martin Trevor Heinrich (; born October 17, 1971) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Mexico, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Heinrich served as the U.S ...

, Harry Teague, and

Ben Ray Luján Ben Ray Luján ( ; born June 7, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from New Mexico since 2021. He served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2021 and the assistant House Democratic leade ...

, all Democrats, were elected to represent New Mexico in the House. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; the winners of the election currently serve in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

, which began on January 4, 2009 and is scheduled to end on January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the

2008 U.S. presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

and

senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

elections. New Mexico has three seats in the House, apportioned according to the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of two Republicans and one

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. All three incumbents chose to vie for New Mexico's open Senate seat being held by retiring Republican

Pete Domenici Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici (May 7, 1932 – September 13, 2017) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six terms in the S ...

. The election resulted in all three New Mexico seats are being occupied by freshman Democrats. Districts 1 and 2 changed from Republican to Democratic; ''CQ Politics'' had forecast that these seats might be at risk for the Republican Party. This was the last time that Democrats won all of New Mexico's congressional districts until the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

midterm elections. Incidentally, two of the three elected Representatives, Heinrich and Luján, now serve together in 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 ...

since 2021.

Overview

Match-up summary

District 1

This district includes the central area of

, in and around

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. An open seat, CQ Politics forecast the race as 'No Clear Favorite'. ''The Rothenberg Political Report'' rated it 'Pure Toss-Up'. ''The Cook Political Report'' ranked it 'Lean Democratic'. :

(D)
campaign website
: Darren White (R)
campaign website
The 2006 race between incumbent Republican

Heather Wilson Heather Ann Wilson (born December 30, 1960) is the 11th President of the University of Texas at El Paso. She previously served as the 24th Secretary of the United States Air Force from 2017 through 2019. Wilson was the 12th president of the So ...

and Democratic state Attorney General Patricia Madrid was a cliffhanger, with Wilson being reelected by 861 votes.

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

had narrowly won the district with 52% in 2004 (

CPVI The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...

=D+2). With the retirement of longtime U.S. Senator

, Wilson ran and lost as a candidate for the Republican nomination in the race for an open

U.S. 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 ...

seat, leaving this an open seat. The Democratic nominee was

(former Albuquerque City Councilor). The Republican nominee was

Bernalillo County Bernalillo County () is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Mexico.Bernalillo ...

Sheriff Darren White. In the general election, Heinrich defeated White by a margin of 11%. When sworn into Congress in January 2009, Heinrich became the first Democrat to ever represent this district in the House.
Race ranking and details
from

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

Campaign contributions
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

White (R) vs Heinrich (D)
graph of collected poll results from ''Pollster.com''

Primary elections

General election

District 2

This district covers the southern half of the state of

, including Las Cruces and Roswell. ''CQ Politics'' forecast the race as 'Leans Republican'. ''The Rothenberg Political Report'' rated it 'Pure Toss-Up'. ''The Cook Political Report'' ranked it 'Republican Toss Up'. Republican incumbent Steve Pearce won his party's nomination over Heather Wilson for the

, leaving this an open seat. This district usually votes Republican.

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

won the district 58% to 42% over

in 2004 (

=R+6). Nevertheless, Democratic nominee Harry Teague defeated Republican Edward R. Tinsely III in the general election and is the first Democrat to represent this district since 1981.
Race ranking and details
from

Campaign contributions
from

Candidates

;Harry Teague (D) Teague is a Hobbs business owner, civic leader and former Lea County Commissioner.
Harry Teague for Congress
official campaign website * ;Edward R. Tinsley III (R) Tinsley is a restaurateur.
Ed Tinsley for Congress
official campaign website *

Primary elections

General election

District 3

This district covers the northern half of the state of New Mexico, including the capital, Santa Fe. An open seat, ''CQ Politics'' forecast the race as 'Safe Democrat', as did ''The Rothenberg Political Report'' and ''The Cook Political Report''. * Dan East (R) * Ben R. Luján (D) * Carol Miller (I) Democratic incumbent

Tom Udall Thomas Stewart Udall ( ; born May 18, 1948) is an American diplomat, lawyer and politician serving as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from ...

won his party's nomination for

's open U.S. Senate seat,. The Democrats tend to hold the advantage in the district:

received 54% of the vote there (

=D+6) in 2004. The Democratic nominee was State Public Regulation Commissioner Ben R. Luján. Luján's father serves as Speaker 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) , ...

. The Republican nominee was small business owner Dan East. Carol Miller, a 1997/1998 Green Party candidate, was seeking the seat as an independent.lcsun-news.com
/ref> Luján won the three-way race fairly easily and was sworn into Congress in January 2009.
Dan East's campaign website

Ben R. Luján's campaign website

Carol Miller's campaign website

Race ranking and details
from

Campaign contributions
from

Primary elections

General election

References

;Specific ;General
2008 Competitive House Race Chart
''

The Cook Political Report ''The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter'' is an American online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the U.S. Presidency, the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and U.S. governors' offices. Sel ...

'', October 13, 2008.
2008 House Ratings
''

The Rothenberg Political Report Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter ''The Rothenberg Political Report'', now known as ''Inside Elections''. He was also a regular columnist at ''Roll ...

'', October 14, 2008

External links

Elections
from the ''New Mexico Secretary of State''

from the '' League of Women Voters of New Mexico''
U.S. Congress candidates for New Mexico
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Campaign contributions for New Mexico congressional races
from

Local/State Election news and Voter Guide
from

Las Cruces Sun-News ''Las Cruces Sun-News'', founded in 1881, is a daily newspaper published in Las Cruces, New Mexico. History The ''Sun-News'' started in 1881 as the ''Rio Grande Republican'' and went through several mergers to become the ''Las Cruces Daily News' ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:United States House Of Representatives Elections In New Mexico, 2008

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2008 New Mexico elections