Kokinadis moves to 1st District race

Brett Kokinadis said Tuesday he is withdrawing from the crowded race for an open seat in Northern New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District and instead will challenge first-term U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland of Albuquerque in the 1st District.

Kokinadis, founder of New Mexico Democrats for Democracy, announced in April he had changed his party affiliation and was running as a Republican for the 3rd District.

On Tuesday, he said state and national Republican leaders encouraged him to run in the 1st District. A statement said he recently attended an event held by President Donald Trump in Milwaukee, where he met with former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and presidential staffers.

“Haaland has dropped the ball by not addressing the key issues that truly impact families here at home such as solid immigration and border security plans, sound approaches to health care and drug costs, real solutions to the opioid crisis and helping small business, all of which rest in the hands of Congress,” Kokinadis wrote.

When asked if he would move from his Santa Fe residence to the 1st District, he said while there is no legal requirement to live there, he will have a second residence in Albuquerque during the race. He added that he intends to relocate there from Santa Fe in the future.

“Some may call me crazy for trying to unseat a sitting congresswoman,” Kokinadis wrote in an email to supporters, “but I know there are people like you and me who know we must and will do it.”

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, who currently represents the 3rd District, is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring fellow Democrat Tom Udall.

Democrats seeking to replace Luján include First Judicial District Attorney Marco Serna, Santa Fe lawyer Teresa Leger Fernandez, and former CIA agent and author Valerie Plame. Haaland, who is one of the first Native American women to serve the U.S. House, was elected to her first term as a U.S. representative last year.