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Laura Olivas
Laura Olivas (independent) ran in a special election to the U.S. House to represent New Mexico's 1st Congressional District. She lost as a write-in in the special general election on June 1, 2021.
2021 battleground election
Melanie Ann Stansbury (D) defeated Mark Moores (R) and four other candidates in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District special election on June 1, 2021. The election was called following incumbent Debra Haaland’s (D) confirmation as secretary of the interior for the Biden administration on March 15, 2021.[1] Stansbury received 60% of the vote to Moores' 36%. No other candidate received more than 5% of the vote.[2]
The Democratic Party nominated Stansbury at a convention on March 31.[3] The Republican Party nominated Moores at a convention on March 27.[4] Aubrey Dunn (I), Christopher Manning (L), write-in Laura Olivas (I), and write-in Robert Ornelas (I) also ran in the election.
Haaland was first elected to represent New Mexico’s 1st in 2018. She won re-election in 2020 against Michelle Garcia Holmes (R) 58.2% to 41.8%. New Mexico's 1st was rated Solid Democratic during the 2020 general election. The district last elected a Republican in 2006, when Heather Wilson (R) was re-elected. In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden (D) defeated Donald Trump (R) in the district 60.2% to 37.4%.[5]
The outcome of this race affected partisan control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 117th Congress. At the time of the election, Democrats had a 219 to 211 majority over Republicans. Five seats were vacant. As of September 10, 2025, 17 special elections have been called during the 117th Congress. From the 113th Congress to the 116th Congress, 50 special elections were held. For more data on historical congressional special elections, click here.
Elections
2021
See also: New Mexico's 1st Congressional District special election, 2021
General election
Special general election for U.S. House New Mexico District 1
The following candidates ran in the special general election for U.S. House New Mexico District 1 on June 1, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Melanie Ann Stansbury (D) | 60.4 | 79,838 |
 | Mark Moores (R) | 35.6 | 47,111 | |
 | Aubrey Dunn (Independent) | 2.7 | 3,534 | |
 | Christopher Manning (L) | 1.3 | 1,734 | |
 | Laura Olivas (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 40 | |
 | Robert Ornelas (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 6 | |
| Total votes: 132,263 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic convention runoff
Special Democratic convention runoff for U.S. House New Mexico District 1
Melanie Ann Stansbury defeated Antoinette Sedillo Lopez in the special Democratic convention runoff for U.S. House New Mexico District 1 on March 31, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melanie Ann Stansbury (D) | 51.2 | 103 |
 | Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D) | 48.3 | 97 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 201 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic convention
Special Democratic convention for U.S. House New Mexico District 1
The following candidates ran in the special Democratic convention for U.S. House New Mexico District 1 on March 30, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D) | 37.2 | 74 |
| ✔ | | Melanie Ann Stansbury (D) | 21.6 | 43 |
| Randi McGinn (D) | 17.1 | 34 | ||
| Victor Reyes (D) | 9.0 | 18 | ||
 | Selinda Guerrero (D) | 6.5 | 13 | |
 | Georgene Louis (D) | 6.5 | 13 | |
| Francisco Fernandez (D) | 1.0 | 2 | ||
 | Patricia Roybal Caballero (D) | 0.5 | 1 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 199 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican convention
Special Republican convention for U.S. House New Mexico District 1
The following candidates ran in the special Republican convention for U.S. House New Mexico District 1 on March 27, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Moores (R) | 40.5 | 49 |
 | Eddy Aragon (R) | 28.1 | 34 | |
 | Elisa Martinez (R) | 16.5 | 20 | |
 | Jared Vander Dussen (R) | 5.8 | 7 | |
| Ronnie Lucero (R) | 5.0 | 6 | ||
 | Michaela Chavez (R) | 4.1 | 5 | |
| Jonathan Gonzalez (R) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Total votes: 121 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Laura Olivas did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ NPR, "Deb Haaland Confirmed As 1st Native American Interior Secretary," March 15, 2021
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Election Results: Special Congressional Election June 1, 2021," accessed June 3, 2021
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Stansbury chosen as Democratic nominee for special election," March 31, 2021
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Mark Moores will be Republican CD1 candidate," March 27, 2021
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," accessed April 20, 2021
