New Mexico Supreme Court Affirms Democratic Congressional Redistricting; US Supreme Court Appeal Likely Futile Effort By GOP

On Monday, November 26, the New Mexico Supreme Court affirmed a State District Court’s ruling that the congressional voting district maps drawn by the 2021 NM Legislature  do not rise to the level of “egregious” gerrymandering. The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled congressional districts drawn up by state lawmakers in 2021 are not gerrymandered, even though there is evidence the new boundaries diluted votes between political opponents.

It was the redrawing of the Sothern New Mexico District that was ground zero to insure the election of a Republican to congress. Republican and Democratic lawmakers argued in court primarily over the map that set the boundaries for the southernmost congressional district in New Mexico. The Democratic-drawn congressional map divvied up a conservative, oil-producing region and reshaped a swing district along the U.S. border with Mexico. The lower court found that the Democratic lawmakers did purposely choose the map in order to try to entrench power, but that the map didn’t violate voters’ constitutional rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the state’s constitution.

The Republican Party argued unsuccessfully that the new district boundaries would entrench Democratic officials in power, highlighting the 2022 defeat of incumbent GOP Congresswoman Yvette Herrell by Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez. Democratic state lawmakers argued that the 2nd District in southern New Mexico remains competitive, with just a 0.7% margin of victory in the 2022 election. The two are squaring off once again in 2024.

The Democratic Party of New Mexico said in a statement

“We are glad that the State Supreme Court ordered that the District Court’s redistricting decision will be upheld, hopefully putting to rest months of frivolous distractions”.

 Excerpted from Pete Dinelli blog of 12/18/2023