Engineer and mom Alexis Martinez Johnson is effectively the Republican nominee for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District.
Martinez Johnson achieved over 87 percent of the vote in the recent 3rd-district GOP pre-primary convention. While Martinez Johnson still technically has to run in primary, because of her strong showing at the pre-primary convention, no other candidate is on the ballot.
In a release her campaign distributed after the convention, Martinez Johnson touted her strong showing and the energy Republicans have moving forward.
“I’m proud to announce that our campaign has won the Republican convention today,” she said. “Republicans are energized and ready to take back New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. Now more than ever, we need a change of leadership in Washington. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi’s failed, radical policies have led to a record 40-year-high in inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, failing schools, and a growing Communist Russia on the horizon. I’m honored to have the support of the overwhelming majority of Republican delegates, and look forward to flipping this seat red in November.”
Barring an unforeseen development, Martinez Johnson is slated to face incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Teresa Fernandez (D-NM-03) in the November general election. This is a rematch of the 2020 election which was held under the prior district map.
Fernandez was first elected in 2020 and assumed office in January of 2021. Prior to her service in the U.S. House, Fernandez worked as an attorney and was a White House Fellow during the Clinton administration. She later served in the Obama administration on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. She also worked as a liaison between the Obama White House and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
At the Democratic pre-primary nominating convention that took place earlier in March, Fernandez said that love will unite the United States and the world to defeat Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I believe that love is what we will use to repel that repellent Putin and his vicious war on a democratic and free Ukraine.” said Fernandez. “I believe that President Biden is operating from a sense of love to unite a country and a world, not to build walls that divide us but to build the bridges that unite us. That is the only way that democracy fights tyranny abroad and at home. We gotta fight it everywhere.”
Fernandez’s voting record includes votes against legislation that would help combat record high gas prices across the country, a bill that would help provide reliable and affordable energy for American families, and a bill that would support American energy security and eliminate U.S. and Allied reliance on foreign dictators and authoritarian regimes. She also voted to prevent floor debate of legislation that would boost domestic energy production to secure American energy independence, create American jobs, and strengthen national security.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Fernandez is one of 16 Democrat incumbents being targeted for defeat by former Vice President Mike Pence’s new PAC, Advancing American Freedom.
NM-3 is a competitive race due to redistricting and the current national environment. Prior to redistricting, Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight gave the district a partisan rating of D+14. It is now rated a D+5.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at the Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR.
Photo “Alexis Martinez Johnson” by Alexis Martinez Johnson.
