New Mexico's Democratic convention delegates moved by women leaders, excited by VP pick

Vice President Kamala Harris and her pick for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have an abridged runway to the general election after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July, but New Mexico Democratic Party Chair Jessica Velasquez said that might be a blessing.

“The shorter runway is actually focusing that energy and that momentum. We’re seeing voters fired up and ready to go in ways I haven’t seen in my tenure as chair,” Velasquez said Wednesday from Chicago, the city hosting this year’s convention.

New Mexico’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention pledged their votes for Harris on Tuesday to the tune of “Confident” by Demi Lovato. The delegates officially nominated Harris with a virtual vote on Aug. 6, but the ceremonial in-person roll call reaffirmed her nomination.

The executive director of New Mexico’s Democratic Party, Sean Ward, had a social media moment during the roll call, thanks to his notable mustache and 1970s style. People on X joked that a “time traveler” had slipped into the New Mexico delegation.

“Sean works very, very hard for our state party, and he deserves that little bit of spotlight,” Marisol Enriquez, Bernalillo County Democratic Party chair and one of New Mexico’s 45 delegates, said Wednesday.

Another highlight for Enriquez, who is attending the DNC for the first time, has been the speeches from women leaders like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former first lady Michelle Obama and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

“I was really struck and touched by Hillary Clinton’s speech the other night,” Enriquez said. “I thought she was dynamic. She reminded us that she has worked to get us to this point.”

Enriquez ran to be a delegate in March, months before Biden dropped out of the presidential race. Initially, she was nervous about the quick timeline for Harris’ campaign. In New Mexico, early voting starts in October.

“The fact that this is the opportunity for us to have a woman president, and also a Black woman, South Asian woman to be president, is historic and it’s energetic, and I think we’re ready for it,” Enriquez said.

New Mexico delegate John Dyrcz said the convention energy is “electric” and has different momentum from the last three Democratic National Conventions he has attended. His first was the 2012 convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, when former President Barack Obama was running for his second term and Biden was his running mate.

Dyrcz is a labor leader and thinks Harris would be a pro-labor president. He is also excited by Harris’s VP pick. Walz was a geography teacher before becoming a congressman and then governor. Dyrcz thinks that Walz’s “plain-spoken nature” will appeal to New Mexicans.

“I work for the teachers union in New Mexico, and so having somebody on the ticket who was a labor member, was in the classroom, understands public education, is supportive of public education, is a really good telegraph in my mind of the importance that Vice President Harris puts on our schools,” Dyrcz said Tuesday.

This year’s 92-page Democratic Party platform also reflects the changing nature of the presidential race. The platform contains references to President Biden and Harris “running to finish the job.” But the values encased in the platform, like growing the middle class, supporting public education and protecting LGBTQI+ rights, resonate with Dyrcz.

Dyrcz is part of the LGBT community and is worried that the Supreme Court could overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision to recognize same-sex marriage.

“Knowing that Harris-Walz as the next administration is going to look out for my rights as a person to be with my partner and love who I love is really critical,” Dyrcz said.