SANTA FE, N.M. — The Democrat-led New Mexico state Senate has endorsed a new map for its own political boundaries that embraces recommendations from Native American communities for shoring up Indigenous voting blocs in the northwest of the state.
The plan won Senate approval Thursday in a 25-13 vote. Republicans opposed the bill in unison, noting it would pit two incumbent Hispanic Republicans against each other for the same seat in the next election.
The bill moves to the House for consideration. Democratic state Sen. Shannon Pinto, a Navajo Nation member from Tohatchi, described her vote for the bill as a gesture of appreciation for sovereign tribal nations.