All five federal delegates of New Mexico, combined with several state officials, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the hours after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the U.S. presidential contest.
Biden announced Sunday he would not run for a second term as president, a few weeks before he had planned to accept the Democratic Party nomination at the party’s convention in Chicago. The announcement came after weeks of debate within the party over Biden’s prospects for defeating Republican candidate, and former president, Donald Trump, following a weak debate performance and concerns about fundraising and his position in opinion polls. Biden, who at 81 is the oldest person to serve as president, has endorsed Harris, 59, as the nominee.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, who is running for a second term in November, joined northern New Mexico Representatives Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernández in endorsing Harris, as did Senators Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich (who is also seeking reelection in November). The delegation is comprised entirely Democrats.
“President Biden gave a lifetime of distinguished service to the country we love. I commend the President for the decades of serving working Americans and service people, not CEOs and corporations. I commend his decision to step out of the race and put his country first,” Vasquez said in a statement.
The New Mexico endorsements follow a larger trend of most, but not all, elected Democrats supporting Harris ahead of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, when the party will officially nominate a candidate to challenge Trump, who is seeking a return to office after serving from 2017 to 2021.
Vasquez’s statement took a shot at Trump and his allies, referring to them as “MAGA extremists” under Trump’s signature slogan, “Make American great again.” His targets included his own Republican opponent, Yvette Herrell, who previously represented southern New Mexico and his running in a rematch election against Vasquez. The congressman then returned to Harris as an alternative to Trump, writing, “Vice President Kamala Harris is the leader who can bridge the divide in our county and move our nation forward.”
Herrell, for her part, called for Biden to resign from office altogether, echoing a sentiment voiced by congressional Republicans. “If Joe Biden is unfit to run for president, he is most certainly not fit to BE president,” she wrote on X.
Vasquez and Heinrich were the only federal elected officials in New Mexico to call on Biden to step down before Sunday’s announcement.
“History will remember President Joe Biden as one of the most effective, accomplished, and successful leaders America ever had. With his decision today to put country over self, the President had secured his legacy. I commend him for his selflessness, honor, and integrity,” Heinrich said.
Biden had resisted calls from Heinrich, Vasquez, and others to step down as late as July 19, three days before reversing course.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was, per reporting from the New York Times, among the Democratic governors communicating concerns about the 2024 election outcomes for their own states in a conference call with Biden three weeks ago.
Lujan Grisham has not commented about her participation in that call, but released a statement Sunday praising his leadership and saying his decision to withdraw was “in the best interest of the Democratic Party and the nation.”
Algernon D’Ammassa contributed to this report.
