> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.newmexicomadness.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # NM-03 Head to Head: Leger Fernández's Record vs. Zamora's Case - URL: https://www.newmexicomadness.com/nm03-leger-fernandez-zamora-record-comparison/ - Published: 2026-08-30T15:39:43.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-30T21:20:35.000Z - Description: Artesia, Roswell, Hobbs, and Gallup all sit in her district. Six years of votes suggest she never noticed. - Author: Reid Rothchild - Tags: State ### The Map Nobody Mentions In 2021, New Mexico Democrats redrew the congressional map and split southeastern New Mexico into three pieces. Artesia, part of Roswell, and northern Hobbs were moved into the 3rd Congressional District — the Santa Fe district. Carlsbad and south Hobbs stayed in the 2nd. Lovington and Tatum in Lea County came along, as did Dexter, Hagerman, and Lake Arthur in Chaves County, plus Gallup and all of McKinley County. The purpose was dilution, and it worked. Teresa Leger Fernández won re-election in 2024 by 162,342 to 126,085 while Donald Trump carried Curry County with 70.4 percent and Roosevelt County with 70.6 percent. Those counties are inside her district. For six years she has governed like they aren't. ### What a Congresswoman Can Actually Do Here is the defense you will hear when this record is raised: education is a state function, crime is a state function, CYFD is a state function, county roads belong to the county. Not her job. Call it what it is. A House seat is not a voting machine, it is a pressure position. She has a direct line to the governor, the Public Education Department secretary, every legislator in the Roundhouse, every mayor, every superintendent, and every union president in her district. She controls appropriations requests. And she has a press platform that generates statewide coverage on demand — she proved it in August 2026, when a tour of the Torrance County detention facility and a single ICE arrest in a Santa Fe clinic parking lot both became statewide news within days. The machinery works. It has never once been pointed at a fourth-grade reading score. Name one time she publicly pressured, embarrassed, or threatened the government of her own state over a result that ranks 50th. The silence is the record. ### Cannon, and the Bill She Voted Against Cannon Air Force Base sits in her district and accounts for more than $400 million in local wages and salaries. The Record: - Voted no on the FY25 NDAA, 281–140, because it barred gender-transition care for minors - Voted no on the June 2024 NDAA, 217–199, calling the amendments "poison pills" - Called Trump's Iran strikes "unconstitutional" and cosponsored Thomas Massie's war powers resolution - Labeled a later round of strikes Trump's "third Iranian debacle" She has voted against the annual defense bill, and the reason she gave was gender policy. Her records shows no real support for our nations service members, their mission, or their leadership. ### Border, Drugs, and Torrance The overdose numbers in her own back yard are the hardest facts in this race. Rio Arriba County recorded 112.6 overdose deaths per 100,000 in 2024 — the highest rate in New Mexico, nearly five times the national average and more than three times the state average. In the first half of 2025, overdose deaths rose 340 percent in Taos County, 104 percent in Santa Fe County, and 48 percent in Rio Arriba County. New Mexico recorded roughly 900 overdose deaths in 2025, a 21 percent increase, even as overdose deaths nationwide declined — moving the state to fourth worst in the country. Santa Fe County alone lost 104 people to opioids, two a week. Rio Arriba, Taos, and Santa Fe are all in the 3rd District. This is not a border-county problem she inherited. It is happening thirty minutes from her home office, and the most visible federal response has been naloxone boxes on the wall. The Record: - Voted no on the Laken Riley Act, which requires detaining noncitizens arrested for theft or assaulting an officer - Signed a January 2023 letter to drop the asylum transit ban — attacking a Democratic president for being too restrictive - Voted no on the Homeland Security portion of the January 2026 funding bill - Voted no on H. Res. 1128, March 2026: To stop DHS funding Then there is Torrance County. New Mexico's Immigrant Safety Act, signed February 19, 2026 and effective May 20, bans 287(g) agreements and local ICE detention contracts, ending them in Torrance, Cibola, and Otero counties. Rural counties are losing a major employer. Her contribution was to tour the Torrance facility in August 2026, call it "very sterile," and complain she was blocked from speaking with detainees. A district losing two people a week to fentanyl is represented by someone whose defining immigration and drug effort is irritating ICE agents and whining for illegal aliens. ### An Energy Policy From 2015 Oil and gas is the lifeblood of state revenue. It pays for the schools, the roads, and the permanent funds, and it does it from ground she has spent six years trying to close. The Record: - Sold the Inflation Reduction Act as a bill to "cut carbon by 40% by 2030" - Voted for the 2021 resolution restoring stricter federal methane rules on local producers - Leads the Chaco bill barring leasing within a 10-mile buffer which ignored the economic harm to Diné allottees who live on royalty income The trouble is that the energy world moved and she didn't. Her own utility now says the quiet part out loud: PNM's June 2026 plan drops coal entirely by 2031 and replaces it with wind, solar, and batteries, keeping only 40 megawatts of natural gas on standby. That is a thin margin for a hot afternoon, and PNM has already warned once that it might not have enough power to get customers through a July peak. In the San Juan Basin, federal land managers now project as few as 500 new gas wells over the next thirty years and admit the decline means "job losses in the energy sector and a reduction in local and state revenue". Demand is rising. Reliable supply is shrinking. She is still running on a 2015 script about capping wells, and nobody in Farmington or Artesia is confused about who pays for that. She calls Chaco protection sacred. Some of the Diné families living on top of it call it locking away their only income. Both can be true. Only one of them has a vote in Congress. ### Two Hundred Eighteen to Two Hundred Six On January 14, 2025, the House passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act by 218 to 206\. Two Democrats in the entire chamber voted yes. She was not one of them, and neither was any member of the New Mexico delegation. That vote tells a father in Artesia and a mother in Gallup that the state championship their daughter trained four years for is negotiable, and that the person representing them in Washington considers the question closed. Eleven months later she voted down a defense bill over the same category of issue. ### Fiftieth Place, Ten Years Running New Mexico ranked 50th in education in the 2026 Kids Count Data Book — the tenth consecutive year. It ranked 49th in overall child well-being and 50th in family and community. Eighty percent of fourth graders were not proficient in reading. Eighty-six percent of eighth graders were not proficient in math. Child poverty sits at 22 percent against a national 15. In 2026 the Legislative Finance Committee reported that 32,000 New Mexico young people are disconnected from both school and work, costing the state $623 million a year. That report landed in her district's capital city. There is no Leger Fernández response to it. She did not write the education code. She is the only federal official these communities elected, and in six years her defining fights were Chaco buffers, ICE oversight, and voter registration — not one of which moves a test score or creates a job for disconnected youth. ### The Alternative Offer Martin Zamora has no federal voting record, and this article is not an audit of one. What he has is a farm near Clovis, a long line of farmers, ranchers, and cattlemen behind him, four terms representing House District 63 since 2019, a seat on Agriculture and Water Resources, and a ranch in Torrance County. He was re-elected in 2024 with 59 percent. His stated priorities are agriculture and water rights, job creation, cracking down on crime and drug trafficking, and securing the southern border. | Issue | Leger Fernández: documented record | Zamora: stated priority, no federal record | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- | | Border | No on Laken Riley Act; 2023 letter urging Biden to drop the asylum transit ban | "A nation without borders is not a nation" | | Crime and drugs | Called for Noem's resignation; toured Torrance facility, August 2026 | Stand with law enforcement, restore law and order | | Water and land | 10-mile Chaco leasing ban the Navajo Nation sued over | Defend property rights, cut federal regulation | | Jobs and energy | IRA at 40 percent carbon cut by 2030; 2021 methane rule vote | Lower taxes, cut red tape, back small business | ### The Verdict She is the federal voice for Artesia, Roswell, Hobbs, Farmington, Gallup, Española, and Tucumcari, and she has spent six years demanding accountability from agencies in Washington and none from the government of her own state. In July 2026 she even voted against H.R. 7008, a bill restricting congressional stock trading, while her own disclosed net worth climbed from roughly $1.38 million in 2021 to about $2.19 million. Votes can be explained. Rankings can't. New Mexico has been 50th in education for ten straight years and lost two Santa Fe County residents a week to opioids in 2025, and the woman with the loudest microphone in the district has never once used it to say enough. #### Endnotes 1. Coverage of the 2021 redistricting split placing Artesia, part of Roswell, and northern Hobbs in NM-03 while Carlsbad and south Hobbs remained in NM-02 — Focus NM Daily, December 20, 2021\[[focusnmdaily](https://focusnmdaily.com/2021/12/20/new-congressional-district-divides-southeastern-nm-into-three-portions/?ref=newmexicomadness.com)\] 2. NM-03 district composition by county and community for the 118th Congress and after, including Lea, Chaves, and McKinley counties — U.S. Census congressional district profile 3. 2024 general election results, U.S. Representative District 3: Leger Fernández 162,342, Republican challenger 126,085 — New Mexico Secretary of State ElectionStats 4. 2024 presidential results by county: Trump 70.4 percent in Curry County, 70.6 percent in Roosevelt County 5. Leger Fernández tour of the Torrance County ICE facility and complaint that she was blocked from speaking with detainees — KOB 4, August 19, 2026 6. Leger Fernández statement condemning an ICE arrest in the La Familia Medical Clinic parking lot in Santa Fe — Source New Mexico, August 20, 2026 7. Cannon Air Force Base economic impact, including over $400 million in wages and salaries — joint statement of Leger Fernández, Heinrich, and Luján, August 2023 8. Congressional Record tribute presented to the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon AFB — DVIDS, August 2026 9. Statement on her vote against the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act, including her quote on gender-transition care for minors in military families — Office of Rep. Leger Fernández, December 11, 2024 10. All three New Mexico Democrats voting against the NDAA, passed 217–199, over "wedge issue amendments" — NM Political Report, June 17, 2024; floor remarks — Congressional Record, December 10, 2024 11. Roll Call 723 on H.R. 2670, FY24 NDAA, recorded Yea — House Clerk's Office, December 14, 2023 12. Statement calling unilateral military action in Iran unconstitutional and cosponsorship of the Massie war powers resolution — Office of Rep. Leger Fernández, June 21, 2025 13. New Mexico delegation statements condemning Iran strikes, including the "third Iranian debacle" characterization — Santa Fe New Mexican, 2026 14. Rio Arriba County overdose death rate of 112.6 per 100,000 in 2024, the highest of any New Mexico county — USAFacts state data\[[usafacts](https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-drug-overdose-deaths-happen-every-year-in-the-us/state/new-mexico/?ref=newmexicomadness.com)\] 15. New Mexico's roughly 900 overdose deaths in 2025, a 21 percent increase against a national decline, and 104 opioid deaths in Santa Fe County — Searchlight New Mexico, July 12, 2026\[[searchlightnm](https://searchlightnm.org/why-have-opioids-taken-a-hold-on-new-mexico/?ref=newmexicomadness.com)\] 16. Overdose death increases in the first half of 2025: Taos County 340 percent, Santa Fe County 104 percent, Rio Arriba County 48 percent — New Mexico Department of Health, September 18, 2025; Source New Mexico; Taos News 17. Laken Riley Act roll call, passed 263–156 with Leger Fernández recorded Nay — House Clerk's Office, January 22, 2025 18. S.5, Laken Riley Act, provisions and enactment as Public Law 119-1 — Congress.gov 19. Letter from roughly 80 lawmakers, including Leger Fernández, urging the Biden administration to reverse its Title 42 expansion and abandon the proposed asylum transit ban — January 26, 2023 20. Statement on voting for the January 2026 funding bill while voting against its ICE and Homeland Security provisions — Office of Rep. Leger Fernández, January 22, 2026 21. Statement opposing H. Res. 1128, March 26, 2026: "not vote to give more money to ICE and CBP" 22. Call for the resignation of Secretary Noem, January 13, 2026 — Office of Rep. Leger Fernández, immigration issue page 23. New Mexico's Immigrant Safety Act, signed February 19, 2026, effective May 20, banning 287(g) agreements and local ICE detention contracts in Torrance, Cibola, and Otero counties — ACLU of New Mexico; The Appeal; Bolts Magazine 24. Joint appearance promoting the Inflation Reduction Act as legislation to "cut carbon by 40% by 2030" — Office of Rep. Stansbury, September 2022 25. House passage of the resolution restoring stricter federal methane rules, with both New Mexico Democrats voting yes — June 25, 2021 26. Reintroduction of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act establishing a 10-mile leasing withdrawal — Office of Sen. Luján, April 2025 27. Navajo Nation litigation over the Chaco withdrawal, its stated preference for a 5-mile buffer, and allottee royalty concerns — Navajo Times; Searchlight New Mexico 28. PNM's June 2026 resource plan eliminating coal by 2031 and adding wind, solar, and storage with 40 megawatts of natural gas — PNM news release; wire coverage 29. Prior PNM warning of insufficient generation to meet July and August peak demand — Southwest Public Policy Institute 30. BLM San Juan Basin Reasonably Foreseeable Development Scenario projecting up to 500 new gas wells over 30 years, with acknowledged job and revenue losses — NM Political Report 31. Roll Call 12 on H.R. 28, Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, passed 218–206 — House Clerk's Office, January 14, 2025 32. Republican Party of New Mexico response documenting the votes of all three New Mexico Democrats against H.R. 28 — January 14, 2025 33. Heritage Action legislative scorecard: 0 percent current session, 6 percent lifetime 34. League of Conservation Voters member record 35. 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book ranking New Mexico 50th in education for the tenth consecutive year — New Mexico Kids Can 36. New Mexico ranked 49th in overall child well-being and 50th in family and community — Searchlight New Mexico; Albuquerque Journal, June 2026 37. Proficiency and early-education figures: 80 percent of fourth graders not proficient in reading, 86 percent of eighth graders not proficient in math, 60 percent of three- and four-year-olds not in school — KUNM, June 12, 2026 38. Legislative Finance Committee report estimating 32,000 disconnected youth at a cost of $623 million annually — KOAT, May 2026; KRQE, April 2026 39. Martin Zamora biography and stated campaign priorities — zamorafornewmexico.com 40. Zamora's service in House District 63 since 2019, occupation listed as farmer, and Agriculture and Water Resources committee assignment — New Mexico Legislature 41. Zamora's Clovis farm, Torrance County ranch, and 2024 re-election with 59 percent 42. House passage of H.R. 7008 by 232–198 with Leger Fernández opposed, her disclosed net worth rising from approximately $1.38 million to $2.19 million, and her 90-day disclosure extension — Republican Party of New Mexico, July 2026