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Debra Anne “Deb” Haaland neared confirmation this week as the 54th secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), which oversees more than 500 million acres of public lands.
The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was expected to vote on Haaland’s nomination March 4. If the committee approved, as it was expected to do, the full Senate will then vote.
If confirmed, Haaland, an Albuquerque Democrat, would resign her New Mexico District 1 (NMO1) seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. New Mexico Secretary of State (NMSOS) Maggie Toulouse would then set the date for a special election to fill the vacancy.
Haaland, 60, is a native of Winslow, Arizona, and a member of Laguna Pueblo. She is the first Native American to head a federal cabinet agency and the third DOI secretary from New Mexico, joining former U.S. Sen. Albert Fall and former U.S. Rep. Manuel Lujan, Jr.
Haaland is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law and former chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party. She was elected to the U.S. House in 2018 and re-elected in 2020. Her replacement will join New Mexico’s two other freshmen representatives in the House.
A special election will be held to fill her seat in Congress.
For more information on the special election, visit.sos.state.nm.us/voting-and-elections, then click on “Upcoming Elections” and “Click Here” under Special Election: Vacancy in the Office of United States Representative.
