This was a banner week in the state for progress on sticky issues. The 2025 New Mexico Redistricting Task Force began meetings on August 4, and the State of New Mexico Child Advocate Selection Committee met on August 5.
Both efforts are crucial to right vast wrongs in our state. The 2025 Redistricting Task Force will again address independent redistricting to minimize gerrymandering and ensure the “one person, one vote” principles of the Voting Rights Act are finally brought to bear in our elections. The Child Advocate Selection Committee will vet candidates to fill a six-year term in the Attorney General’s Office to lead an office responsible for responding and investigating complaints on behalf of children in state custody or families interacting with the state’s Child Youth and Families Department (CYFD).
The stakes for both bodies are high. And they will only succeed with meaningful contributions from the left and right sides of the aisle.
The 2025 Redistricting Task Force continues the work of the 2020 Redistricting Task Force. I was privileged to serve on the 2020 version 1.0 of the Task Force, a cross-partisan group convened by the non-profit New Mexico First. Chaired by retired NM Supreme Court Chief Justice Ed Chávez and retired NM Chief Court of Appeals Judge Rod Kennedy, the 2020 Task Force met virtually throughout the pandemic and ground through a workplan to come to consensus on a set of priorities to form a framework for redistricting legislation for the 2021 session.
The legislative process was contentious, with then-Speaker of the House Brian Egolf having stated on the record his desire to redistrict Republican CD2 Congresswoman Yvette Herrell out of office. The Task Force Team persevered, and largely due to some eleventh-hour efforts by Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-38), legislation establishing an independent redistricting committee was jammed into another bill in the last 12 hours of the session and passed.
The final legislation had one significant caveat: any maps proposed by the independent redistricting committee were subject to review and change by the Legislature. Regardless, the Citizens Redistricting Committee (CRC) held public meetings all over the state, met with thousands of New Mexicans and received their public comments, and submitted a set of maps to the Legislature.
Who did what they wanted. Mostly. Tribal advocates prevailed and won some key concessions. But CD2 was gerrymandered beyond recognition – Roswell would be represented by three members of Congress. So was Rep. Dow’s district, with Truth or Consequences being split into different districts, and the sprawling metropolis of Hatch being split into three districts. While they were at it, the Democratic majority put Rep. Dow into the same district as another Republican incumbent, Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-49).
Reps. Dow and Armstrong easily won re-election in 2024. Rep. Armstrong is the House Minority Leader.
To succeed, independent redistricting will require good government adherents from both caucuses. The 2025 Redistricting Task Force is chaired by Chief Judge Kennedy, joined by fellow retired Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals Linda Vanzi. Task Force members from the Legislature include Sens. Jay Block (R-12), Crystal Brantley (R-35), Angel Charley (D-30), and Harold Pope (D-23) and Reps. Armstrong, Dow, and Parajón (D-25). The 2025 Task Force is convened by Fair Districts New Mexico and also includes a geographer and good government advocates.
The New Mexico Child Advocate Selection Committee represents years of relentless outreach on the part of New Mexico Child First, namely Maralyn Beck. It is only correct that she is serving on the Committee. The establishment of the Child Advocate Office is the result of the passage of House Bill 5 in the 2025 legislative session and showed astounding unity in both chambers. It passed the House unanimously, and there were only 13 dissenting votes in the Senate. Even the “no” votes were bipartisan.
Committee members were nominated by the Senate and House majority and minority caucuses, the State Supreme Court Chief Justice and by the Governor. The head of the Child Advocate Office will lead the first independent accountability office in the history of CYFD. With two new reports this week of deaths of children in CYFD custody, this effort is an imperative.
In the case of the Office of the Child Advocate the convening of the Selection Committee this week demonstrates that good things happen when Democrats, Republicans, centrists, progressives, conservatives, and MAGA all come to the table with a common goal: better outcomes for our children. I know of all the political factions I just mentioned, there isn’t one that doesn’t want anything but the best for our children if you ask them. That’s a starting point for a conversation.
Redistricting is having a viral moment in the news right now as the Democrats in the Texas state Legislature have left the state to prevent a quorum to stop mid-decade redistricting and a gross gerrymander in favor of Republicans. Predominantly Democrat states like California and New York have threatened their own redistricting to retaliate.
This is the time for New Mexico’s elected leaders to respect their voters much as they care for our children. The only reason Congressman Gabe Vasquez, a perfectly nice man, is representing CD2 is because it was mapped for him. And he barely won it. I’m not sure he can keep it (Seriously. Have you met Yvette Herrell?).
Is keeping Roswell, population 47,000, in three congressional districts, or Hatch, population 1,600, in three legislative districts, anything close to fair? Is this how our majority party wants to explain civics and good government to their children? Voters should pick their representatives, not the other way around.
Starting at a single point of agreement is an astonishingly simple way to build a conversation among diverse points of view. I recommend trying it out sometime.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at
