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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is set to visit ABQ on September 25 when she hosts a reception to benefit NM Dem U.S. Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernandez and southern Congressional hopeful Gabe Vasquez.
The Speaker, now 82, has said in the past that this would be her last term in leadership but if the improbable occurs Election Night and the Dems hang on to the House, there’s talk of her staying at the helm–not at her own insistence but that of the Democratic Party.
Old New Mexico Ties
The reception featuring Pelosi will be held at the home of ABQ trial attorney Randi McGinn, a longtime friend of the Speaker’s and a prominent Dem fund-raiser. In 2020 Pelosi raised eyebrows and endorsed McGinn for the Dem nomination for the U.S. House seat now held by Rep. Stansbury. The seat was vacated by then-Rep. Deb Haaland who became Secy. of the Interior. Stansbury went on to win the general election by a landslide.
Southern Race to Watch
The Democratic House Majority PAC has pumped $225,000 into the race for progressive Democrat Gabe Vasquez who is trying to take out MAGA GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell. The newly redistricted CD2 includes parts of Bernalillo County and Albuquerque, both of which have been new territory for Herrell and Vasquez.
Pelosi last visited New Mexico in 2015 to tour Santa Fe Community College with Sen. Ben Ray Lujan.
Tickets for the reception range from $300 to $8,700.