New Mexico Election 2026: US House of Representatives, District 3

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández first won the seat to represent New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District in 2020, replacing fellow Democrat Ben Ray Luján when he joined the U.S. Senate. 

The 3rd Congressional District covers most of northern New Mexico, and runs the eastern edge of the state to Lea and Chaves counties, as well as a portion of Otero County. Leger Fernández has fended off Republican challengers twice since then and is currently serving her third term.

Leger Fernández faces state Rep. Martin Zamora (R-Clovis) in the Nov. 3 election. Zamora has campaigned on protecting private property against federal regulations, promoting energy sector jobs, cracking down on crime and finishing Trump’s border wall to address immigration. Zamora did not respond to repeated requests from Source NM for an interview.

The position carries a salary of $174,000.

Leger Fernández’s responses have been edited for clarity and concision.

A Las Vegas, New Mexico-native, Leger Fernández graduated from both Yale and Stanford Law School, and previously worked as a public public interest lawyer on cases involving voting rights, tribal sovereignty, environment and acequia protection, according to her congressional biography. She also worked as a White House fellow in the Clinton and Obama administrations, focusing on housing issues.

During her tenure in Congress, Leger Fernández has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s cuts to food assistance and Medicaid programs, as well as its refusal to release un-redacted files relating to sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. In February, she introduced federal legislation that would eliminate statues of limitation in civil cases for victims of sexual abuse and trafficking. 

She has also focused on federal relief for constituents affected by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon wildfire and subsequent contamination of water, and in August urged a federal watchdog agency to investigate toxic materials in fire retardants in response to dozens of private wells in Mora County showing unsafe levels of toxic materials, including arsenic and uranium. 

What is the most important issue facing this district?

Costs. In my rural district, it is hard to fill up your car, your truck — especially if you need diesel for your tractor or farm equipment. Other items like groceries, energy and healthcare are all also more expensive because of Trump and Republican policies on the Iran War, tariffs and the One Big Beautiful Bill that gave billionaires a tax break. 

What legislation would you prioritize sponsoring in the next term?

I’ve already teed up several bills that will address the high costs of housing, including my Home of Your Own Act, which would get more people into affordable homes. My water rights settlement bills would bring billions of dollars to New Mexico for water projects and certainty to tribal waterways.

We also have healthcare legislation to increase providers in rural areas. We need to take back Congress so we can stop the Iran War, Trump’s tariffs and corruption.

How would you describe the impact of the Trump administration on New Mexico and what would your approach be to working with the Trump administration if re-elected?

Trump does not understand New Mexico values, which center around land, water, air and strong communities. We are proud to be a multicultural, working class state. I think he’s making us poor, hungrier and less safe. 

His policies benefit the billionaire class at the expense of working families. There have been 10,000 New Mexico children who lost federal benefits due to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, his VA staffing cuts have negatively affected the New Mexico VA healthcare system and even our nuclear safety programs are at risk.

Most of my legislation wins for the state have been bipartisan. For example, I worked with Republicans to get $100 million for water projects across the district.

What policies would you support, if elected, as it relates to border security?

Border security and immigration reform are not mutually exclusive. We can have a strong border that keeps out drugs and criminals, and at the same time have immigration reform that creates a pathway to citizenship.

I also intend to hold ICE accountable. I have a bill to ensure that citizens can sue ICE if they’ve been detained or deported. What ICE is doing is unconstitutional and unlawful. 

You were critical of federal drug enforcement agencies following a report that they allowed hundreds of thousands of pills to be trafficked into New Mexico. How would you hold these agencies accountable if re-elected?

I have been especially critical of the DEA for allowing fentanyl to flow into our community. We cannot let them use New Mexico as a guinea pig or sacrificial lamb to get bigger convictions. We need to bring them before Congress and ask tough questions, and if we find that they’ve engaged in policies that they knew would lead to death — we need to change that policy and allow family members of those who died as a result to bring their own civil lawsuit.

You have constituents in CD3 who have still not been made whole following the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon wildfire, and now are grappling with the prospect of polluted well water. How do you plan to continue addressing this issue if reelected?

Within the first three months of the fire, Sen. Luján and I secured $5.45 billion for victim compensation. The reality is FEMA has taken too long to get the money out, especially after Trump took office. I recently had the Government Accounting Office do well testing in the affected area and I pushed the USDA to pay a million dollars for it.

We know that $3.9 billion out of the total $5.45 billion has gone out the door. That’s money back in the hands of families, ranchers, businesses and communities that were harmed by the federal government starting that fire. But it’s not over and I’m going to continue to fight to force them to get the rest of the money out.

You’ve advocated for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell, and advocated for greater transparency of the Epstein files. How would you pursue that in a new term?

The American people are supportive of releasing the Epstein files because we are sick and tired of the rich and powerful getting away with this kind of criminal activity. 

When I get back to Congress in November, I will secure the last two signatures to force a vote on a bill we’re calling Epstein Two. This discharge petition will allow a vote to force the release of the millions of files that the federal government has withheld. It will allow New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez to sue the U.S. Department of Justice so that he can bring criminal claims against those who abused, sexually assaulted and trafficked young women and girls in New Mexico.