Voters in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District chose a new representative to send to Washington. With the eyes of the national political crowd on Albuquerque and the rest of the district, Democratic candidate Melanie Stansbury ran away with the election, hitting the 60 percent mark over three conservative challengers. Ms. Stansbury portrayed her win as a symbolic victory for voting rights, for science and for women. The Line opinion panel talks takeaways from the special election for New Mexico’s CD1.

The Line opinion panel also discusses New Mexico’s vaccination push, which this week added a cash sweepstakes to the effort using federal aid funds. Is a lottery a good tactic by New Mexico’s Department of Health to encourage everyone to get vaccinated, or has Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “usurped legislative authority to rehabilitate her image” as state Senate Republicans claim?

Plus, We have yet to see the halfway mark for 2021,but Albuquerque has already seen 50 homicide deaths. That’s twice as many murders as the city had at this point last year. The Line opinion panel discusses the Duke City’s rising violent crime rate.

Host:

The Line Opinion Panel:

Merritt Allen, Vox Optima public relations