State Rep. Debbie Rodella may nominally be a member of the Democratic Party, but she’s played an instrumental role in preventing New Mexico from expanding voting rights. Thanks to that sorry record, she drew a high-profile primary challenge on Wednesday from a fellow Democrat, Susan Herrera. Herrera is the former CEO of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation and a former director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. She kicked off her campaign by arguing that the heavily Democratic 41st State House District, which backed Hillary Clinton by a 64-24 margin, can and should elect someone more progressive than the reactionary Rodella.
Even though Democrats won back control over New Mexico's state legislature in the 2016 elections, Rodella has used her perch on a key committee to block two critical voting rights bills: one that would have implemented automatic voter registration and another that would have allowed voters to register and cast a ballot on the same day during the state’s early voting period. And Rodella isn't just awful when it comes to voting: In 2013, she voted against a law legalizing same-sex marriage and has supported bills favoring predatory payday lenders.
Rodella first won her seat in 1992 and hasn't faced a primary challenge since 2006, so it’s unclear whether Democratic voters have finally grown tired of her. But her continued pattern of siding with Republicans to thwart bills that would expand access to voting make this a key contest for supporters of voting rights. What’s more, Democrats are favored to retake the governor's mansion in November, which would give them unified control over state government for the first time in eight years. The last thing progressives would want to see in that scenario is Rodella standing in the way of reform, so unseating her is imperative.