Two NM Dems quit Fair Districts Task Force to side with leftist gerrymandering

The ongoing redistricting fight in Texas spilled into New Mexico this week, as two Albuquerque Democrats abruptly resigned from the state’s Fair Districts Task Force. But Republicans were quick to point out the glaring irony: the very same party now decrying Texas for “rigging” its maps just finished gerrymandering New Mexico to erase conservative voices.

On Monday, State Sen. Harold Pope and State Rep. Cristina Parajón announced they were stepping down from the panel, citing GOP efforts in Texas as a reason for federal intervention.

“Fairness is not changing the rules in the middle of the game because you’re suddenly afraid you might lose, as Trump is doing in Texas,” Parajón said. She added, “And fairness is not trying to play professional baseball with wiffle ball bats.”

Pope likewise declared that “the state-by-state approach to independent redistricting will only make the playing field more uneven. To protect the free and fair elections that are the bedrock of our democracy, we need strong national legislation to end partisan gerrymandering once and for all.”

But Republicans were quick to slam the move as nothing more than political theater. Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, who still serves on the task force, accused Democrats of breathtaking hypocrisy.

“Senator Pope actually had the audacity to claim that Texas leaders are using their power to ‘systematically disenfranchise communities of color and redraw maps that protect their own political survival,’ ” Block said. “Where was his concern when his own party — led by a white, male Speaker of the House — targeted several Republican districts in New Mexico, particularly those held by two minority women: former State Representative Jane Powdrell-Culbert (a black woman) and former Congresswoman Yvette Herrell (a Native American woman)?”

Following the 2020 census, Democrats used their control of the legislature and governorship to redraw district lines in a way that broke up conservative-leaning areas. Those changes directly contributed to Republicans losing congressional representation, leaving New Mexico with an all-Democrat delegation today.

Now, with Republicans in Texas attempting to strengthen their own position, Democrats are suddenly calling foul. The juxtaposition, Block argued, proves the party is only interested in “fairness” when it benefits them politically.

Parajón tried to spin her resignation as a principled stand, saying in a phone interview that “the rules are being changed halfway through the game, and it was going to be very hard for me to go to a meeting tomorrow, flirting around this topic of redistricting without addressing the real issue at hand, that this is a national issue that is not being addressed.”

Yet Republicans say the “real issue” is not Texas, but New Mexico Democrats’ own gerrymander. By splitting conservative communities like Hobbs and Roswell and carving up Republican districts, they ensured their political survival at the expense of voter choice.

The resignation of Pope and Parajón may grab headlines, but for many in New Mexico, it only highlights the double standard: Democrats had no problem manipulating maps when it secured them power at home, but they are now crying foul when Texas plays by the same rules.

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