Surprise victory turns New Mexico's entire congressional delegation blue

In New Mexico, Xochitl Torres Small’s campaign showed why Democrats fight so hard to make sure every eligible voter can cast a ballot and demand that every single vote be counted.

On election night, Torres Small’s opponent, Republican Yvette Herrell, claimed a narrow victory in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, going so far as to give a victory speech to her supporters.

That was a bad move.

Torres Small cautioned patience to her supporters, too. “We are waiting until every person’s vote is heard,” the 33-year-old lawyer and first-time candidate said.

Once every vote was counted, including thousands of absentee ballots, Torres Small went from trailing by less than 2,000 votes to winning the race by almost 3,000 votes.

Torres Small will take the seat formerly occupied by Republican Rep. Steve Pearce. Pearce left the seat to run for governor, where he lost by 14 points.

In the actual victory speech, Torres Small spoke about health care, one of the primary issues in her campaign and campaigns across the country.

Torres Small, granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, joins Congresswoman-elect Debra Haaland and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan as the third Democrat in the three-person congressional delegation. These three “are believed to be the first all minority U.S. House delegation with at least three members from a state in U.S. history,” according to KRWG.

With Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, New Mexico is now the third state sending only Democrats to Congress, joining Delaware and Hawaii.

Torres Small joins a growing Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, where Democrats will control every committee and be able to push for progressive priorities.

In addition to passing legislation focused on the middle class rather than benefitting Wall Street tycoons, Democrats will also hold the Trump administration accountable through oversight and investigations.

From coast to coast, Americans rejected the vitriol and division of the Trump-led Republican Party. And when all those voices are heard, Democrats like Torres Small win.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.