Women hold majority in New Mexico legislature for the first time

The House Chambers inside the Roundhouse on Jan. 10, 2024. (Photo by Anna Padilla for Source NM)

Women in New Mexico won big this last election and now make up more than half of the state‘s lawmakers.

Along with a female-majority Legislature and a woman overseeing the state Senate, New Mexico women also hold positions such as governor, secretary of state and a majority in the state’s supreme court. New Mexico is also represented by two women out of the state’s five seats in Congress.

This is a first for New Mexico, and puts the state in a unique position, as the second-highest female majority in the legislative body behind only Nevada.

New Mexico reached a majority-female House of Representatives in 2021, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics. Men will still outnumber women in the Senate. But following the election this month, 60 of the 112 legislative districts in both chambers are represented by New Mexican women, bringing the percentage to about 53% trailing Nevada’s majority at 60%.

Chelsea Hill, director of data at the Center for American Women and Politics, said the final rankings are not yet available as some states are still counting ballots and finalizing winners. However, she did say New Mexico’s second-place ranking is not likely to change in the coming months.

Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo) represents Senate District 17 and is president pro tempore of the New Mexico Senate. She is currently one of only 15 female state senate leaders in the country. 

Stewart said the female majority took hard work. The Senate leadership team specifically targeted 10 races and six were won by Democratic women, one by a Republican woman. The upper chamber is also gaining two women who moved up from the state House of Representatives.

Stewart highlighted the Legislature’s focus on tax credits, rebates and other bills to support vulnerable communities in New Mexico, and the need to collaborate to continue the work.

“Women do that more easily than men do. We like to collaborate, we like to get along, we like to solve problems,” Stewart said. “I think it will help the culture of the Senate to have this diverse group of women serve.”

She added that she does not think there will be a major change in the running of the Legislature, but there will be more people to support the work already in motion.

“I think the Legislature has worked well with the governor in the past four to six years. We’ve had a lot of successes,” Stewart said. “I think because we’ve made such good changes, women want to be part of that, and have really stepped up to run for office and were successful.”

Stewart said she thinks the election has given both chambers a boost and lawmakers are “more united between the two chambers than we ever have been.”

A tale of two districts

Angel Charley (D-Acoma) ran unopposed in the primary election and will represent Senate District 30 beginning in January, flipping the district blue. Sen. Joshua Sanchez, a Republican who has represented the district since 2021, was redistricted, winning a different seat in the election.

This was the first time Charley, Laguna/Zuni/Diné, ran for office and the gravity of her new role is not lost on her.

“People keep asking me if I’m excited and that’s not the feeling at all. I think it was this rush of responsibility,” Charley said. 

She emphasized the areas in New Mexico culture where women often are the leaders, from heads of families to matriarchal Indigenous communities. The state Legislature now better reflects this.

 “The women who are coming into this office, I think, have real, lived experience that reflects the experience of everyday people in New Mexico.” Charley said. “We’re moms, we come from marginalized backgrounds, and I’m excited to see how we can shape policy that actually meets the needs of people who are experiencing the outcomes of the decisions that are made.” 

Most of the women in the New Mexico Legislature are Democrats, and this will continue to be the case starting in January. In contrast, Rebecca Dow (R-Truth or Consequences) said she is “more concerned about one-party control than I am about the gender of the people leading the state.” 

Dow took back her former seat in the house for District 38. Tara Jaramillo (D-Socorro) represented the area for one term when Dow chose not to run for reelection, instead tossing her hat into the ring for a failed run for governor in 2022.

She said her primary priority is to protect the most vulnerable children in the state and hopes fellow female lawmakers can set partisan politics aside to get laws passed.

“I don’t vote for people based on their sex,” Dow said.“So for me, I didn’t really even pay attention to whether the candidates were male or female. What I do think is important is to listen to that New Mexico women – the voters, the constituents that we represent – that they want things changed.”