US House candidate: Mask mandate needed

Las Vegas attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez is the Democratic nominee for the Third Congressional District of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is running against Portales native and Santa Fe engineer Alexis Martinez Johnson, the Republican nominee.

There is no incumbent, with Ben Ray Luján vacating the position to run for New Mexico’s open Senate seat.

The interview with Fernandez was conducted by phone. Multiple attempts to interview Johnson were unsuccessful.

Teresa Leger Fernandez

Q: What do you believe should be the role of the federal government?

I believe the federal government, all governments, have a role to protect the people who live in America, and they do that internally. The U.S. has always had a very important role internationally. We’ve always been leaders on the world stage. That is not only good for us, but it’s good for our planet. Many of the crises that we face today from the COVID pandemic to the climate crisis must be addressed with action from around the world. It’s very important the federal government and the president have leadership roles around the world, because that’s something we have to address together.

The federal government has a role in creating the infrastructure, the foundation upon which our businesses and our communities can thrive. Our federal government has a role to ensure we have a good infrastructure, clean water, good roads, broadband, healthcare facilities, education, those basic things we need to be able to thrive.

The federal government must also enact regulation to protect us from other harm, such as pollution, make sure our workplaces are safe and that we have clean air, clean water. There are many laws meant to protect us or help us thrive. The federal government has shown we can do that. We are failing in many of those areas, but we have an opportunity to strengthen our federal government so it can do that in these upcoming years.

What makes you the best qualified candidate for this seat?

I have spent the last 30 years working on the major issues we must address in 2021in Congress. I have built healthcare facilities, so I know issues on our primary goals. I have spent decades bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into New Mexico to build affordable housing, infrastructure, businesses and schools.

I have won lawsuits protecting our environment. I have fought to protect our democracy, both by expanding voter access to the ballot but also fighting gerrymandering. If there is a person who has on- the-ground experience, that’s me.

I will be the first Congressperson in this district raised on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo (mountains). I have been working on rural economic issues. I know what it’s like to have that wind. I know what it’s like to be on ranch land. I own ranch land. I know perspectives covering the diversity of this district. I know the different tissues we’re going to be discussing.

What are your key concerns for eastern New Mexico?

I think that, like other places in New Mexico, we need to make sure we provide the infrastructure you need, including the water pipeline you’re working on. I think it’s important to continue to support the economy you have, but also to help you diversify that economy. We would like to add wind and solar. It’s a very windy side of the state, and it’s a very sunny side of the state. We need to support agriculture. I think these things are related. We need to improve our healthcare systems, and we need to invest in education. I want to build a thriving economy and you cannot do it without providing the education and training for people to get those jobs and build those businesses.

What concerns do you have about the pandemic in 2021?

The new Congress and president will have to enact an economic recovery bill to bring us out of the recession. That will be the first order of business for Congress. That bill needs to address the problems we can identify today. There are too many people without jobs. There are too many small businesses that have failed or are failing. The Heroes Bill, it’s time to use that to invest. We need childcare so parents can get back to work. We need to invest in the education system. Let’s invest in the things we know we need so we can have a better future for ourselves.

I think it will be important to have a national mask mandate. We have a mask mandate in New Mexico and we are doing better than neighboring states. We need a coordinated national effort ... so each state isn’t doing it on its own. That includes invoking the Defense Production Act, funding our health facilities so we are able to respond and making sure a vaccine that is available is safe and distributed to everybody.

What assurances could you provide that you will not simply be an obstructionist to the other party and a rubber stamp for yours?

I have decades of experience bringing people together who are very different. One of my legislative successes was bringing ranchers together with environmentalists and tribes to put a tax bill together. I have a history of getting people together to find common solutions. There might be a common solution that fixes our separate problems. Because I have a good history of work in the area, I will be independent. I have been nominated for various awards. I’m somebody who believes in building business.

Please tell us something you support regarding President Trump.

I believe he’s going to be signing the missing and murdered indigenous women bill that will assist women who have been taken, raped or harmed. That’s something I applaud him for doing. There’s individual legislation he’s approved that I think is good. Another one I really like that he signed into law is the Great American Outdoors Act. That is so important because it will fully fund the Conservation Fund that we can use to improve our public lands.

Please tell us something you support regarding former Vice President Biden.

I support Biden’s emphasis on what we need to do to make our communities healthy, to provide equal access to education, to help us build a future where everybody can participate, where it is more fair and just. There are several pieces of legislation he’s pursued, but (I support) the general concepts of looking out for everybody, making sure businesses thrive and our students have access to education without crippling debt.

— Compiled by Editor Kevin Wilson