The election of all 70 seats in the New Mexico House of Representatives this month was the first go around for a new district map. The state legislative and U.S. congressional maps were redrawn late last year following the 2020 Census. While Democratic control of the House will remain the same, the redistricting process may not.
, unlike , garnered praise for its partisan fairness. University of New Mexico professor Gabriel Sanchez, who evaluated the redistricting process before the election, he found no compelling evidence of partisan gerrymandering in the state maps.
鈥淎nd, in fact, even Republicans we spoke with had to give credit to Democrats, and said, 鈥榊ou know, they really could have made this much worse for us,鈥欌�� Sanchez said on New Mexico in Focus. 鈥淎nd they really did put forth 鈥� at least in terms of partisan gerrymandering 鈥� a pretty fair set of maps.鈥�
, which releases report cards for maps across the country, gave New Mexico鈥檚 House map an A grade for partisan fairness. However, it got a B overall, dragged down by a C for lacking competitive districts and a failing grade for its geographic features, since so many of the districts cross county lines.
Low competition and wonky boundaries could be chalked up to the type of gerrymandering that Sanchez鈥檚 team did find 鈥� what鈥檚 called 鈥渂uddymandering.鈥�
鈥淭here was unfortunately evidence that there were more protection of incumbents through the legislature's maps,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ore so than the CRC and a bunch of computer-generated algorithm-based maps that are supposed to take politics out of the equation.鈥�
The CRC is . For the first time last year, the panel engaged the public and proposed maps to the legislature without using partisan data. Lawmakers didn鈥檛 have to choose a CRC map though, and they mostly didn鈥檛.
cites several people with knowledge of the process who said the House met behind closed doors before the CRC even finished their work, and that there were transparency concerns when protected so many sitting lawmakers.
Only two representatives who ran for reelection lost seats. Democrat Candie Sweetser in southwestern New Mexico 鈥� although that race is likely 鈥� and Republican Jane Powdrell-Culbert in district 44, northwest of Albuquerque.
The only Black Republican representative, Powdrell-Culbert was a vocal critic of the Democratic-led process on the House Floor last December, saying her district had been 鈥渄estroyed.鈥�
鈥淭his process sucks to be totally honest,鈥� she told her colleagues and the Speaker. 鈥淭his process that we have, and that we鈥檝e gone through, has not been an honest process. And we knew going into it that it was for majority rule. That鈥檚 just called politics.鈥�
Analysts come up with different estimates for how drastically the partisan balance of her district changed.
estimates it saw a 14% swing to the left. It uses data from the most recent elections for President, U.S. Senate and Governor. Whereas New Mexico-based have Democrats gaining an 8% share of the vote in district 44, factoring in a decade of all statewide election results.
Research & Polling鈥檚 Director of Data and Analytics Brittany Poss said using all statewide races helps 鈥渟mooth out鈥� the difference between presidential election year results and those from midterms, when turnout is usually lower and how a precinct performs can look different.
Democrats and Republicans also each lost one open House seat to the other party. If recounts don鈥檛 change any outcomes, the chamber鈥檚 partisan balance will stay nearly the same (the open seat of a retiring Republican-turned-independent was won by a Republican).
District 23 in the Corrales area was already Republican leaning despite being held by Democrat Damon Ely since 2017. He sponsored the new House map in last year鈥檚 session.
鈥淚 think the reason I鈥檓 being tasked to sponsor this is because I鈥檓 not running,鈥� he told a House panel considering the map. 鈥淎nd so, I don鈥檛 find myself in that conflict except for the fact that I鈥檓 a Democrat.鈥�
He praised the CRC and tribal leadership for their contributions to the final House map, even though Research & Polling Inc. estimates his district became about 4% redder than before.
鈥淲hen it comes to the House map, this is something we, as a body, should all be proud of 鈥� Democrats and Republicans,鈥� he told his fellow lawmakers.
His district went on to be won by Republican Alan Martine by eight percentage points.
Meanwhile the Democrats picked up southern New Mexico鈥檚 district 38 left open by Republican Rep. Rebecca Dow when she ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor. The district has had Republican representation since 1969, , but had its partisan performance flipped on its head when Democrats became about 6% stronger in the new map.
Overall, Professor Sanchez concluded changes in the state legislative maps 鈥渨ere not gerrymandered to advance one party鈥檚 interests over the other.鈥�
More controversial was how the southern U.S. Congressional district was redrawn, where Democrat Gabe Vasquez narrowly beat Republican incumbent Yvette Herrell. Lawmakers had included parts of Albuquerque's South Valley and Westside in the district, which made it lean to the left. The Republican Party has sued over that map and the Supreme Court is set to hear the case in January. Regardless of the ruling, this month鈥檚 election results will stand.
The fact also remains that were not used outright. The legislature either tossed them out or tweaked them.
Kathleen Burke with the nonpartisan watchdog group told 九色网 that the House got the closest to honoring the work of the independent committee that gathered public input.
鈥淭hey chose a CRC map and then they updated it a bit to include the Native consensus map, which was not yet ready when the CRC released their proposed maps,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o, the House did a tremendous job.鈥�
Tribal leaders felt good about their dealings with the House around a new map, according to Sanchez鈥檚 report, noting that the discussions were 鈥渧ery positive and respectful.鈥� The same can鈥檛 be said for the Senate, where a map the tribes preferred was
Fair Districts for New Mexico, members of the CRC, and even some lawmakers say politicians shouldn鈥檛 have the power to tinker with the CRC鈥檚 maps. That鈥檚 how it works in 10 other states, including neighboring Colorado and Arizona, .
And legislation to that effect is on the agenda. Democratic Rep. Natalie Figueroa plans to reintroduce a bill in January鈥檚 legislative session.
鈥淚t's a question of public faith in our institutions at this point,鈥� she said of why she advocates for the change. 鈥淗aving legislators draw their own legislative maps is an inherent conflict of interest.鈥�
A version of the resolution stalled in this year鈥檚 session. She is tweaking it after feedback and hopes it will move faster this time, saying people need to have faith legislators aren鈥檛 drawing maps to suit themselves.
The Your New Mexico Government project is a collaboration between 九色网 and New Mexico PBS with support from the Thornburg Foundation.
