Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez serves New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. She first won this seat in 2020 with 59% of the vote. Redistricting has led her seat to geographically grow and become more competitive this cycle.
The daughter of bilingual education pioneers, Congresswoman Leger Fernandez started her education in Head Start, eventually going on to graduate from Yale and Stanford Law School. As an attorney and advocate, she won significant legal battles to advance voting rights, promote tribal sovereignty, and protect our environment and our acequia waters.
A Clinton and Obama presidential appointee, she worked as a White House Fellow on housing issues and as Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Leger Fernandez has been a major advocate in Congress fighting for compensation for those affected by the U.S. legacy of nuclear weapons production and testing. In 2021, she offered a successful amendment to provide an apology to individuals and their families in states who were exposed to radiation from nuclear testing. She also won Judiciary Committee approval of a bipartisan bill to provide compensation to Americans who were exposed to high levels of radiation and later developed cancer and other diseases due to the government’s nuclear testing program.
She currently serves on the committees on Education and Labor, on House Administration, and on Natural Resources, where she chairs the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States. She also serves in the leadership of the Congressional Hispanic and Progressive Caucuses.
