Teresa Isabel Leger Fernández ( LEJ-ər fər-NAN-dez; born July 1, 1959) is an American attorney and politician representing New Mexico's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2021.
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Early life and education
Teresa Leger was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Her mother, Mela Leger, was a bilingual educator and her father, Ray Leger, served as a member of the New Mexico Senate. After graduating from West Las Vegas High School, Leger Fernández earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from the Stanford Law School.
Career
After graduating from law school, Leger Fernández returned to New Mexico to work as an attorney, specializing in community-building and tribal advocacy. She was a White House fellow during the Clinton administration and later served on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation during the Obama administration. She also worked as a liaison between the White House Office and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. For 30 years, Leger Fernández operated Leger Law and Strategy, LLC in Santa Fe. The firm focuses on community development, tribal advocacy, civil rights, and social justice. In 2017, she led a successful effort to implement ranked-choice voting in Santa Fe's municipal elections.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
After incumbent representative Ben Ray Luján announced that he would not seek reelection in 2020 and instead run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Tom Udall, Leger Fernández announced her candidacy to succeed Luján. In the Democratic primary, she faced six opponents, including New Mexico state representatives Joseph L. Sanchez and Valerie Plame, an author and former CIA officer. During the campaign, Leger Fernández was endorsed by Congresswoman Deb Haaland, EMILY's List, and The Santa Fe New Mexican.
A political progressive, Leger Fernández was also endorsed by the Working Families Party, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She placed first in the primary with over 42% of the vote.
In the November general election, Leger Fernández defeated Republican nominee Alexis Johnson. She assumed office on January 3, 2021.
Committee assignments
Committee on Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Federal Lands
Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs
Committee on Rules
Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process (Ranking Member)
Caucus membership
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chair of Communications
Democratic Women's Caucus, Chair
National Labs Caucus, Co-chair
Rural Broadband Caucus, Co-chair
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Diabetes Caucus
Labor Caucus
LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus
Mental Health Caucus
National Heritage Area Caucus
Native American Caucus
PFAS Caucus
Pro-Choice Caucus
Rural Caucus
Rare Disease Caucus
Ski Caucus
Political positions
Leger Fernández has advocated a "New Mexico Green New Deal", Medicare for All, a transition from fracking to green energy, and a ban on the sale of military-style semi-automatic rifles. She supported comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act. During the 117th Congress, she voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.
Personal life
Leger Fernández and her ex-husband Luis Fernández have three sons.