Departing rep finds hope in common ground
Torres Small looks back on her time representing NM’s CD2
In 2018, I was elected to represent New Mexico’s sprawling Second Congressional District. The only mandate you get when you win by less than 2% is to build common ground and serve your country as best you can.
When the COVID-19 crisis struck, I helped save rural hospitals like Gila Regional, support small businesses like The Waffle and Pancake Shoppe in Alamogordo, and fight for workers who had lost their jobs. I helped doctors reach patients by phone when clinics were closed. And the year before, I forged bipartisan support to deploy better technology that stops drugs at our border, get money for safer roads in the Permian and establish White Sands as a National Park. Through the toughest times, I learned that part of working together is holding ourselves and others accountable. I did so by voting to impeach President Trump, but was proud to serve my district by working with him and others to improve trade with a better USMCA and (to) enact the Great American Outdoors Act.
We’ve got big problems as a country, and 2020 exposed great divides, which we won’t solve if we turn whole groups of people into enemies. Thankfully, rather than see me as an enemy, many of you chose me as a partner — whether it was the farmer who explained global markets at the airport, the customs officer who showed me nonintrusive inspection technology, the oil worker who thanked me for protecting our environment while representing the “dirty south” or the rural police chief who shared that she had bought body cameras years ago to protect officers and those they serve. Disagreement, it turns out, can lead to better understanding, which often creates even stronger solutions.
We’ve got to stop shouting at each other in sound bites, because there’s room to work together when we dive into the details. That’s what it will take as we work to rebuild in the wake of COVID-19. We need to understand balance sheets to help main street businesses get people back to work. We need to work with rural superintendents and utility providers so kids can do their homework at home instead of the parking lot of a McDonald’s. As we build infrastructure for the 21st century, we must also get running water to homes in Alamo Navajo and gas to trailers in Chaparral. This will take diving into the details and a willingness to learn them from each other.
The (November election) loss stings, but I am even more convinced of the need to show up, listen and lift up different voices, whether we agree or disagree. Nothing made me prouder than when someone who’d never met a member of Congress told me they were grateful I visited their town. And in D.C., I loved getting to know our wildly diverse country through its representatives, and finding ways to act together on all we learned from the people we serve. Amidst our challenges, I find hope in this common ground.