On July 27, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández became the first female and Latina cosponsor of the Fair Representation Act (FRA).

Rep. Fernández has represented New Mexico’s 3rd congressional district since 2021. Prior to joining Congress, Fernández had a 30-year career as an attorney in Santa Fe, specializing in community development, tribal advocacy, civil rights, and social justice. There, she led the successful effort to institute ranked choice voting (RCV) in Santa Fe’s municipal elections.

When the city of Santa Fe failed to implement ranked choice voting – nearly ten years after voters had initially approved an amendment to elect their city officials with RCV – Fernández brought the case to the state’s Supreme Court. Recounting the case, Fernández said, “My brief opened up with the sentence that says, ‘This case strikes at the heart of Democracy. Shall the will of the people be honored?’ And what the Supreme Court said, in four to six hours after they got my brief, is ‘Hell yeah’, so we won.” A year after the Supreme Court of New Mexico decided that municipal elections could indeed be conducted with ranked choice voting, in 2018, Santa Fe held its first ranked choice voting mayoral and city council elections.

At FairVote’s 30th Anniversary reception, Fernández spoke about the benefits of RCV, saying, “I truly believe that in this moment we are in, ranked choice voting offers us the ability to be energized, and to be that more inclusive, that more equitable and just society that we all want, and communities that I represent truly need.”

Her recent co-sponsorship of the Fair Representation Act is the latest step in Rep. Fernández’s steady support for RCV. 

“I’m thrilled that Congresswoman Fernández has become the latest sponsor of the Fair Representation Act,” said Rob Richie, President and CEO of FairVote. “Congresswoman Fernández is a longtime, leading champion for voting rights and representation for all communities. She’s been a champion for ranked choice voting since winning a trailblazing lawsuit in New Mexico that led to Santa Fe using RCV in 2018, and deeply appreciates its impact. Her experience in redistricting this past year will be invaluable in communicating the more comprehensive value of the Fair Representation Act.”

Nationally, the Fair Representation Act, H.R. 3863 in the current Congress, is the single most important long-term change to stabilize and strengthen our democracy. The FRA would replace single-winner congressional districts with multi-member districts elected through ranked choice voting. 

The FRA would eliminate gerrymandering and ensure real competition in every district. Every multi-member district would have representatives of multiple parties, and lawmakers would have new incentives to collaborate.

Fernández joins the FRA’s seven original sponsors, including Rep. Don Beyer (VA-8), who introduced the bill in June 2021.