Like many families in her district in rural New Mexico, Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez was born into a gun-owning household and was raised in a family that hunted as a way of life. Her father instilled in her and her siblings a deep commitment to gun safety, and was himself an outspoken voice for gun violence prevention measures as a state legislator. Representative Leger Fernandez brings this valuable experience and her connection to New Mexico’s culture of hunting, gun ownership, and gun safety to her work in Congress and her fight to ensure that all of our families and communities can live free from gun violence.  

Though first elected to Congress in 2020, Representative Leger Fernandez has already made her mark as a champion for gun violence prevention in the House, especially for communities of color. Representative Leger Fernandez co-sponsored the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would expand background checks to all gun sales, and spoke powerfully on the House floor in support of closing the Charleston loophole. She was an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act, and was particularly outspoken on House efforts to close both the boyfriend and stalker loopholes. As the voice for a district where far too many families who have faced the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, Representative Leger Fernandez has worked tirelessly to shine a light on the intersection of gun violence, domestic violence, and the federal government’s obligations to Native communities. 

Following the 2020 redistricting process, the district Representative Leger Fernandez represents has gone from a reliably Democratic seat to a competitive seat that is being targeted by the Republican establishment and outside groups. As a rural Democrat and the only Latina on the House frontline, it is imperative that we hold this seat and reelect Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez this fall.

We are proud to endorse Teresa Leger Fernandez for the US House of Representatives.