President Biden to nominate Sarah Davenport as New Mexico's newest federal judge

SANTA FE — President Joe Biden will nominate Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Davenport of Las Cruces as the state’s newest federal judge, the White House announced Wednesday.

If confirmed, Davenport would replace the state’s top federal judge, William P. Johnson, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2001 by then-President George W. Bush and plans to retire in January.

However, Davenport’s judgeship would be based in Las Cruces rather than Albuquerque, the White House confirmed.

U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich lauded Biden’s decision, while touting Davenport’s legal record.

“Sarah Davenport has built an impressive legal career as a federal prosecutor in New Mexico and strong roots in her home community of Las Cruces,” the senators said in a joint statement. “We are grateful to President Biden for moving quickly to fill this vacancy so we can ensure the District of New Mexico has the capacity to serve the people of our state, delivering justice, and upholding the rule of law.”

They also called for fellow members of the U.S. Senate to act expeditiously on Davenport’s confirmation.

Since taking office in 2021, Biden has appointed three federal judges nominated by the state’s U.S. senators for the District of New Mexico — Margaret Strickland, David Urias and Matthew Garcia. All were subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

With his latest round of nominations, Biden has now announced 257 federal judicial nominees nationwide, though some of those nominations have faced opposition.

As of last year, about two-thirds of Biden’s nominations were women, and the same number are members of racial or ethnic minority groups, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

While announcing Biden’s intent to nominate Davenport, the White House said the latest judicial selections reflect the president’s pledge to ensure the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is “one of our greatest assets as a country.”

Davenport, who will be the fourth federal judge appointed by Biden in New Mexico, has worked as an assistant attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico since 2009.

In that role, she has focused on prosecuting complex, multi-defendant criminal cases, such as a drug trafficking case that involved large quantities of heroine, methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico that were distributed in several states, including New Mexico.

Davenport previously worked as a law clerk at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque and received her law degree from the University of New Mexico.