Wednesday, March 31, 2021STANSBURY WINS CONGRESS RUNOFF ; Sedillo Lopez Scores Commanding First Round Win; She Faces Stansbury In Runoff Today For The ABQ Dem Congress Nomination, Plus: Marijuana Moves At Special Session Breaking Wednesday evening: State Rep. Melanie Stansbury scored an upset win at today’s Democratic Party runoff election, beating Antoinette Sedillo Lopez for the Democratic nomination for the June 1 special election to fill the vacant ABQ congressional seat. Sedillo Lopez had defeated Stansbury by 16 points in the first election round but prevailed today 103-97 in the central committee vote. Stansbury will face GOP State Sen. Mark Moores. More from the Dem Party: The results are as follows:
Melanie Stansbury - 103 votes, 51.24%
Antoinette Sedillo Lopez - 97 votes, 48.26%
In addition, one person wrote in “ABSTAIN”
Therefore, Melanie Stansbury has received 51.24% of the votes and is the Democratic nominee in the CD-1 general election, which will take place on June 1, 2021. She ran third in 2018 when she last sought the Democratic nod for the ABQ congressional seat but Tuesday she rose to the top of the heap. Now Antoinette Sedillo Lopez is closing in on becoming the party's nominee for the vacant ABQ US House seat that will be decided at a June 1 special election. Sedillo Lopez scored a commanding win Tuesday in the first round of voting by 199 members of the Dem Party's central committee. She garnered 74 votes or 37.19%, with second place finisher Melanie Stansbury getting 43 votes or 21.61 percent. Under party rules, because no candidate in the eight person field received 50% there will be a runoff election today between top finishers Sedillo Lopez and Stansbury. The winner will face Republican nominee and ABQ State Senator Mark Moores at the special election. Also on the ballot will be Libertarian nominee Chris Manning, although KOB-TV’s Ryan Laughlin reports a lawsuit has been filed over the legitimacy of his candidacy. Aubrey Dunn, Jr. is gathering signatures to run as an independent. With an impressive showing in the first round Sedillo Lopez, 63, an attorney and ABQ state senator, is the favorite to win today. But Stansbury, 40, an ABQ state representative, has waged a feisty campaign. After the first round vote was announced she rolled out more endorsements in the hope of scoring an upset win. The low-key, insider method for picking the Dem nominee belies the fact that this is a high-stakes happening. The party's choice will be heavily favored to become the next US Rep. The Dems have held the seat since claiming it in the 2008 election. As in the first round, today's second round will take place via email from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Here are the complete results from round one: Antoinette Sedillo Lopez - 74 votes; Melanie Stansbury - 43 votes; Randi McGinn - 34 votes; Victor Reyes - 18 votes; Selinda Guerrero - 13 votes; Georgene Louis - 13 votes; Francisco Fernández - 2 votes; Patricia Roybal Caballero - 1 vote. In addition, one person abstained. Sedillo Lopez, who wears her progressive stripes on her sleeve and who was helped in the committee voting by supporters of Bernie Sanders, now seeks the backers of other candidates: I’m honored to earn the trust, confidence, and enough of the vote to enter a runoff. . . Our campaign is based on equity, justice, and stewardship. Running amongst talented, hard-working Democratic candidates for this seat has been the privilege of a lifetime. Each of my fellow Democratic candidates demonstrated will, passion, and dedication.
Coming out of the first round with a 16% lead is a testament to this campaign's hardworking supporters, volunteers, and staff. For her part, Stansbury said: I am proud to have the support of so many in our communities and looking forward to Tuesday's second round of voting. As someone who was born and raised in New Mexico, I have the grit, determination, and heart to win this election. . .With eight candidates in this race, it's been a tireless effort to get here. My team is thrilled to advance to the runoff, Third place finisher McGinn made no endorsement for the runoff in the hours after the votes were announced. The seat became vacant when Rep. Deb Haaland was appointed Sec. of Interior. She made no endorsement in the contest. No matter what happens today the Dems will field a woman nominee for the ABQ seat as they have since MLG first won the seat in 2012. MOVING MARIJUANA ALONG If there is to be any fireworks at the special legislative session over legalizing recreational cannabis in New Mexico they should come today, after the state House approves the bill and sends it over to a more skeptical Senate. The bill is nearly 180 pages long and has not dramatically changed since it failed to win Senate approval in the regular 60 day session which prompted MLG to call the special session. There is plenty of room to debate, amend and maybe filibuster. The session began at noon Tuesday and could end late today if the Governor and pro-pot lawmakers manage to extinguish any blazes that erupt in the Senate. If not, well, that's when things would get interesting. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2021 |
 
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