Washington D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, which works to elect pro-environment candidates, announced its endorsement of Teresa Leger Fernandez for election to the U.S. House from New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. 

“Teresa Leger Fernandez has been fighting for New Mexico communities for her entire career, working to prevent toxic coal mines and protect clean water,” said LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “We are proud to support her for election because we know she will bring her expertise driving equitable and bold policies to Congress.”

“Teresa Leger Fernandez is a committed leader in New Mexico who will fight to protect our air, land, water, and communities” said Conservation Voters New Mexico Executive Director Demis Foster. “We know she will work tirelessly to tackle the climate crisis, make investments in a clean energy economy, and create good paying sustainable jobs. We are looking forward to all that she will accomplish in Congress.”

“The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund is an important leader in the fight to protect our environment, and I am proud to have their endorsement,” said Teresa Leger Fernandez. “As New Mexicans, our land, air, and water are a fundamental part of who we are. Together, LCV and I will take the bold and courageous action in Congress that is necessary in this climate crisis to protect this beautiful planet we all call home.” 

Teresa Leger Fernandez was born and raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico. She received her bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a J.D. from Stanford University. She worked for 30 years as counsel for tribes and their business entities, as well as with community leaders on affordable housing, civil rights, and community development. In this role, she lobbied in support of community solar and environmental reform. Fernandez also served as Commissioner of Las Acequias de Chupadero, where she successfully defeated a developer’s attempt to take the Acequias’ water out of the Chupadero Valley. She was later appointed a White House Fellow by President Clinton and Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation by President Obama. Fernandez is a supporter of the Green New Deal and is intent on reducing carbon pollution, rejoining the Paris Agreement, and investing in renewable energy resources. She has demonstrated her commitment to the environment and New Mexico’s low-income communities and communities of color throughout her career. As an attorney, she represented the Pueblo of Laguna in opposition to the Fence Lake Coal Mine, which would have had a devastating effect on Zuni Salt Lake. She also fought against efforts to disenfranchise voters within the uranium belt where Navajo, Acoma, and Laguna tribal members opposed candidates who supported renewed uranium mining. More recently, Fernandez worked on renewable energy legislation at the New Mexico state legislature on behalf of the All Pueblo Council of Governors. Additionally, she helped secure over $70 million to rebuild contaminated and dilapidated water and wastewater infrastructure for low income villages and communities. 

About LCV Action Fund

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Action Fund, the connected federal political action committee (PAC) of the League of Conservation Voters, works to elect leaders who stand up for a clean, healthy environment and to defeat anti-environment candidates who oppose climate action. Since the 1990 election cycle, LCVAF has helped elect and re-elect 90 U.S. Senators and 450 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Over the last several years, our efforts have also helped elevate climate change and clean energy as critical issues in key elections.

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and authorized by Teresa for All