President Joe Biden will nominate Sarah Davenport of Las Cruces to serve as the state’s newest federal judge, according to a statement from the White House.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Davenport would replace retiring judge William P. Johnson, the state’s highest-ranking federal judge. Johnson was appointed in 2001 by President George W. Bush.
Davenport served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the Las Cruces location since 2009. Before that, Davenport worked as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in Las Cruces from 2008 to 2009 and as a law clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque from 2006 to 2008, according to a news release.
Davenport received her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2006 and a Bachelor's degree in music from New Mexico State University in 1998.
Davenport’s judgeship would be in the Las Cruces Federal Courthouse if she is confirmed.
This is the 54th round of judicial nominations for the Biden administration. Biden has had more than 200 judges confirmed by the Senate, more than both previous presidents.