WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) voted to confirm Margaret Strickland of Las Cruces to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Mexico. Earlier this year, the senators recommended that President Joe Biden nominate Strickland for this seat, which is based in Las Cruces. The Senate voted to confirm Strickland by a final vote of 52 to 45.

In advance of the vote, Senator Heinrich gave a speech on the Senate Floor in support of Strickland. “In Margaret Strickland, President Biden has nominated someone with the right experience, temperament, and disposition to be a fair-minded District Court judge,” said Heinrich. “I am confident that her experience in southern New Mexico and the southwest border region, along with her incredible work ethic, she will immediately get to work on a heavy backload of cases.”

“With strong ties to the New Mexico legal community and a proven record of service, I’m confident that Ms. Strickland will continue to serve all New Mexicans equitably on the District Court."

"As a former public defender, she brings much-needed professional diversity to our federal courts,” said Luján. “It was an honor to vote to confirm Ms. Strickland, and I congratulate her and her family on this achievement.”

Strickland has been a partner at McGraw & Strickland LLC in Las Cruces, New Mexico since 2011. She has represented clients in both civil rights cases and criminal cases in both state and federal courts in New Mexico. She has represented clients in more than 70 criminal jury trials, and argued before the New Mexico Supreme Court and the New Mexico Court of Appeals. From 2017 to 2019, she served as President of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Strickland started her career at the Law Offices of the Public Defender for the State of New Mexico from 2006 to 2011. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2006 and her B.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2003.