Meet Teresa

Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District.

Teresa is a 17th generation Northern New Mexican. Born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Teresa attended Head Start before graduating from Yale and Stanford Law School.

After law school, Teresa worked as an attorney and advocate and won important legal battles to advance voting rights, promote tribal sovereignty, and protect our environment and acequia waters. She also served as an acequia commissioner.

As a public interest lawyer, she has helped secure nearly a billion dollars for and then helped build, schools, rural health clinics, broadband, businesses, affordable housing, and critical infrastructure for New Mexico. She has worked to protect voting rights and create a more inclusive democracy. She was also a Clinton and Obama presidential appointee and worked as a White House Fellow on housing issues and as Vice Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

In Congress, Teresa serves on the House Natural Resources, House Education and Labor, and House Administration Committees.  She was also elected by her colleagues to serve as Chair of the Committee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States working on a range of issues for Native communities, including economic development, health, cultural preservation, and education.  Teresa also serves as Vice Chair of Communications for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Lastly, as a breast cancer survivor who lost two brothers to addiction, Teresa is dedicated to improving quality, affordable health care and making sure no family goes through what hers did.  In Congress, she introduced the Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act to address alcohol and substance use on college campuses.