SANTA FE – A state Senate redistricting plan is in limbo amid a standoff over Native American political priorities and efforts by lawmakers to avoid competitive pairing of incumbents in the next election.
The Senate canceled a floor session Monday amid discussions between legislators and Indigenous tribal leaders.
States must redraw their congressional and legislative districts every 10 years to reflect new population numbers, and New Mexico lawmakers are in the middle of a special legislative session about redistricting.
A broad coalition of Native American communities is backing a plan to shore up voting-age, Native American majorities in three state Senate districts in northwestern New Mexico and reinforce robust minority-Indigenous voting blocs in two additional districts.
Left intact, the proposal would leave Republican state Sen. Joseph Sanchez of Bosque outside the boundaries of his current district, potentially to compete in a neighboring district against GOP Senate minority leader Greg Baca of Belen.
Leading state legislators including Democratic Senate President Mimi Stewart are backing amendments that diverge from the consensus Native American proposal in an effort to avoid several incumbent pairings.
“We tried very had to maintain the majority of the Native consensus map but deal with issues of pairing and deal with issues of drastic changes to our seats,” Stewart told a Senate panel on Sunday.
State Sen. Harold Pope of Albuquerque urged colleagues not to tamper with the Native American blueprint for redistricting.
“This was a herculean task for our Native American communities to develop this consensus," he said. "They worked with us, let’s honor it.”
The amendments that stray from the Native American recommendations were endorsed on a 7-2 committee vote Sunday with bipartisan support, over emphatic objections by representatives of tribal governments.
New Mexico is home to 23 federally recognized Native American communities. Tribal leaders are seeking to bolster Native American influence in the political process amid dissatisfaction with public education, access to basic household infrastructure and economic opportunities.
Regis Pecos, a former governor at Cochiti Pueblo and advocate for Indigenous educational initiatives, urged legislators to honor tribal recommendations on redistricting, noting New Mexico's leading example in enshrining requirements for tribal consultation into state statute — as well as past laws and policies that harmed Native Americans.
“I just simply want to reflect on the long history of intentional enactment of laws that have prohibited the speaking of our languages in our schools, the prohibition of the free exercise of religion, the laws and policy disconnecting us from our homelands,” Pecos said. “You have provided consultation as part of the statutory framework.”
