New Mexico's Democratic congress people lean into town halls

The country’s political tensions were on display as Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., tried to explain how some of President Donald Trump’s executive orders step on congressional authority to more than 150 people in Moriarty on Thursday.

A small group in the back of the room who came with Trump T-shirts and at least one “this is not normal” sign, a callback to Stansbury’s viral moment at the president’s joint address to Congress, occasionally heckled the congresswoman.

The bulk of the crowd yelled and applauded when Stansbury shared that some Republican House members are opposed to Medicaid cuts. At least once, the crowd was at odds with itself, Trump supporters and Stansbury fans yelling back and forth.

Stansbury maintained calm, asking the audience to respect each other’s opinions. It was number 13 of 15 town halls for the congresswoman over the last month. Stansbury has traveled from Albuquerque to Mescalero, Fort Sumner and Roswell.

“Because so many people are concerned about what’s happening and the volume of calls and emails and letters we’re getting, the most important thing I can do right now is be in the community and answer questions,” Stansbury told the Journal.

She’s not alone.

Rep. Gabe Vasquez held two town halls in the southwest corner of the state last week, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández gathered at least 450 for a town hall in Santa Fe at the end of March, and Sen. Ben Ray Luján hosted one Tuesday.

All three are Democrats. The town halls are congressional office events, so the politicians aren’t actively campaigning during them, but the events likely still have political benefit.

“They’re something that members of Congress tend to embrace as a useful political tool, because they cost next to nothing, and they’re a very direct way to reach the people in your district who are the most politically active,” said Cory Sukala, an assistant professor of government at New Mexico State University.

Town halls allow representatives to hear firsthand from their constituents, a key part of their job, said Daniel Gomez, also an assistant professor of government at NMSU, but can also act like a pressure release valve, especially for those in the minority party.

“We really need these to feel like we’re actually doing something, whether or not it always can translate into actual political change or action,” Gomez said.

Republican congressional leadership has suggested its members avoid town halls during this congressional recess or move them online to maintain control of the events, Sukala said.

As the majority party, Republicans have been facing anger and protests at town halls. Meanwhile, Democrats have been embracing town halls as a way to reach out to their base and to disaffected Trump voters, Sukala said.

Talking Medicaid in Moriarty

Stansbury focused on local wins — money for a fire department and changing Estancia’s flood zone — then moved on to the risk of a constitutional crisis, potential Medicaid cuts, data security concerns with the Department of Government Efficiency and low staffing at the Albuquerque Social Security call center.

Cutting Medicaid by $880 billion could be catastrophic for New Mexico, Stansbury said, because “every single hospital in New Mexico, every clinic, all these rural providers … the vast majority of the income that stabilizes their practice is Medicaid.” But she also tried to assuage fears about potential Medicaid cuts.

“If the worst-case scenario happens, (Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham) will bring the Legislature back in and find a way to float New Mexico’s Medicaid recipients so you don’t lose your health care,” Stansbury said. “That is not sustainable long term. We happen to have a budget surplus right now, so the state might be able to do that for a few years.”

Course correction in Cruces

In Las Cruces, 400 people packed into an auditorium at Doña Ana Community College to see Vasquez in his hometown. Wearing a button-down shirt, blue jeans and boots, Vasquez greeted a friendly crowd, some holding signs juxtaposing his name with hearts, who applauded loudly as he took the stage.

Questions about the Trump administration and the effect of its policies on southern New Mexico dominated the meeting. Aside from a question about drinking water in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, questions focused mainly on Trump’s agenda, immigration, dismantling of federal agencies and cuts to safety net programs.

Some asked the congressman point-blank what he was doing to oppose policies such as the rendition of 238 people to a notoriously harsh prison in El Salvador last month, or the trade war threatening to stifle New Mexico’s growing role in international trade. Others asked for advice on organizing community political action.

Vasquez at times straddled the politics of the moment, endorsing a return to previous norms in congressional politics and encouraging Democratic voters to turn out for the 2026 midterm elections, while also acknowledging the crowd’s sentiment that Trump’s presidency was a national emergency.

“We’re planning some course correction on this, and it’s not through the legislative process, but folks are talking about actively opposing this in a major way,” Vasquez said, though he repeatedly declined to offer details saying he did not want to get ahead of his party’s leadership.

A call to action in Santa Fe

“Diversity makes us strong,” Leger Fernández said, an applause line for the supportive crowd at the Santa Fe Indian School gymnasium near the end of March. The location of her town hall had to be changed at the last minute because more people than expected signed up to attend.

The northern New Mexico congresswoman focused on potential spending cuts to fund Trump’s tax bill and criticized plans for federal layoffs. She answered questions from the audience about whether the delegation is finding Republicans to work with, what they’re doing to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of public schools, and how to protect tribal trust lands and the LGBTQ community.

The congresswoman encouraged the audience to emulate labor leader Dolores Huerta or the Selma march for civil rights.

“They chose to go and do that action there because they knew how racist and angry and violent and vicious that sheriff was, and that county was and that government was,” she said. “So they didn’t say, ‘Let’s go where it’s easy.’ They went where it was hardest.”

Her calls to action generated pushback the next day, after the New Mexico GOP headquarters in Albuquerque were set on fire. Leger Fernández was quick to condemn the arson, as were other Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

State Senate Republicans said her call to “legislate, litigate, agitate” inspired the arson, a claim with no evidence. The state’s Democratic Party responded with a memo accusing New Mexico Republicans of supporting political violence.

A 40-year-old Albuquerque resident was charged for the arson, and with arson at a Tesla dealership in February.

One action Leger Fernández encouraged that Stansbury reiterated a few weeks later was pressuring Republican lawmakers to oppose Trump administration policies with phone calls or letters. Republicans hold majorities in the House and Senate.

“We need just three Republicans, just three Republicans, to say no to the worst of the cuts,” Leger Fernández said.