Incumbent Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D) is running for reelection against Sharon Clahchischilliage (R) to represent New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, which encapsulates northern New Mexico and parts of eastern New Mexico. Born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Leger Fernández is a former attorney who was first elected in 2020.
Here’s where she stands on key issues.
Education
Leger Fernández supports reducing “the burden of student debt” and eliminating undergraduate tuition at public colleges and universities for most students, according to her campaign website.
“The federal government has a responsibility to help our students succeed through higher education,” her website reads.
Leger Fernández is a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. In July, she sponsored the Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act of 2024, which would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prevent certain alcohol and substance abuse.
Crime
In 2022, Leger Fernández voted to pass four public safety bills that would have funded law enforcement, helped send unarmed mental health professionals to respond to mental health crises, supported community violence intervention and increased law enforcement’s ability to solve violent crimes, according to a press release.
Gun policy
Leger Fernández’s website reads that she supports background checks on gun sales, a ban on military-style assault weapons and strengthening red flag laws — which allow courts to order the seizure of firearms from people who are at risk of harming themselves or others, according to The Guardian.
Leger Fernández is endorsed by Giffords, an organization co-founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D) that promotes gun safety laws.
Economy and jobs
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Leger Fernández worked to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. She supports raising the federal minimum wage and protecting the right for workers to collectively bargain, according to her website.
Leger Fernández is also an advocate for reducing gender pay disparities through the principle of “equal pay for equal work,” her website reads, and she supports paid family leave.
In June, she sponsored the Home of Your Own Act of 2024, which would require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a program to provide homeownership assistance grants.
Environment and energy
Leger Fernández secured funding to finish the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project — which will provide municipal and industrial water supply to portions of the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Gallup, according to the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included Leger Fernández’s proposal to invest $4.7 billion to plug abandoned oil wells, according to her website. Oil wells must be properly plugged with cement to prevent them from leaking methane into the atmosphere and toxic chemicals into groundwater, according to WESA.
“This will not only protect our land, air and water, but also create good-paying, union jobs right here in our state,” her website reads.
Abortion
Leger Fernández cosponsored the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022, which would have codified Roe v. Wade.
Additionally, Leger Fernández believes in available and affordable contraception, according to her website.
Border and immigration
Leger Fernández supports “humane, comprehensive immigration reform,” according to her website.
“I believe in strengthening security at our border and points of entry, but this is most effectively done by targeting those places where we see most contraband and drug smuggling,” Leger Fernández’s website reads.
In 2021, she cosponsored the U.S. Citizenship Act, which would have provided an earned path to citizenship, addressed the root causes of migration, reformed the immigrant visa system and responsibly managed the southern border, according to the bill.
War Gaza and surrounding regions
On Nov. 19, Leger Fernández called for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, and reiterated her statement in December.
On July 24, she announced in a press release that she would not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress.
“(Netanyahu) is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and, nine months into this war, he continues to put more families in harm’s way,” she said in the press release.
Editor’s note: The Daily Lobo requested comment from Leger Fernández. This article will be updated if we receive a response.
Lily Alexander is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @llilyalexander
Lily Alexander is the 2024-2025 Editor of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @llilyalexander
