Editorial Board
We endorse Ndidamaka “Didi” Okpareke in the District 1 race for the U. S. House of Representatives. Didi, as she prefers to be known, is a first generation American whose parents came to the United States after surviving the 1967-70 Biafran War in Nigeria.
A resident of Albuquerque since 1997, Okpareke is a graduate of Sandia High School and the University of New Mexico. She earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at UNM and owns a compounding pharmacy in Rio Rancho.
Okpareke, 43, the Republican candidate in the Nov. 3 election, won her party’s June primary without opposition. She is running against the Democratic 1st District incumbent, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, 47, who was first elected to Congress in a 2021 special election to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of current gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland. Stansbury was elected to full two-year terms in 2022 and 2024.
District 1 includes Lincoln, Bernalillo, Torrance, Guadalupe, De Baca and portions of Chaves and Otero counties.
As a pharmacist on the front lines of healthcare, Okpareke understands the need for affordable and accessible healthcare for every New Mexican. As a business owner, she understands the need for a strong economy and says if sent to Congress she will advocate for federal incentives to bring jobs to New Mexico.
Seeking elective office for the first time, Okpareke says she decided to run for Congress as a Republican because she witnessed Democratic members of New Mexico’s federal delegation adhering to what she describes as “a radical agenda that prioritizes rhetoric over results.” She pledges to protect and preserve the freedoms, values and opportunities that drew her parents to America.
We believe Didi Okpareke personifies the citizen legislator envisioned by our founders rather than the professional politician that has become the norm in government today. We believe she will represent the people of New Mexico and not the political bosses in Washington, D.C.
