The Republican Party of New Mexico has appealed a district court ruling on the state鈥檚 congressional map, which upheld it as constitutional.
Judge Fred Van Soelen last week found Democratic lawmakers 鈥渟ubstantially鈥� diluted GOP votes when they split the conservative Southeast corner of the state into multiple districts and moved more Democrats into Congressional District 2, which used to lean Republican. However, he ruled that those efforts did not 鈥渞ise to the level of an egregious gerrymander,鈥� because CD 2 proved to be competitive in 2022 when Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez narrowly beat then-incumbent Yvette Herrell by just 0.7%.
In announcing its plan to appeal 鈥渙n behalf of all disenfranchised voters in the state of New Mexico,鈥� the state Republican Party said in the statement Friday that it 鈥渂elieves the fight is too important to accept this setback without contest.鈥�
The party and other GOP plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal that same day, though the document only appeared on the state court system鈥檚 docket Wednesday.
It was filed with the New Mexico Court of Appeals. However, attorney Carter Harrison wrote in the notice that the court had 鈥渂een instructed to certify the matter to the New Mexico Supreme Court immediately.鈥�
If the high court were to take up the case and strike down the lower court鈥檚 ruling, a new congressional map would need to be drawn ahead of the 2024 election, where Vasquez and Herrell are headed for a rematch.
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