Ndidiamaka “Didi” Okpareke has entered the race for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, where she is running as a Republican against Democratic incumbent Melanie Stansbury. If she wins on November 3, she would become the first Black woman to represent New Mexico in the House of Representatives.
The 43-year-old pharmacist is one of seven candidates of African descent seeking seats in the United States Congress in the November 3 midterm elections. She said her bid is rooted in the story of her family and the work she believes that story demands now: “I’m a pharmacist, a mother of three, and the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. I’m running because we need adequate representation at the table so we can pull our communities forward,” she said.
Okpareke was born in California to parents who left Nigeria after surviving the 1967-1970 Biafran War. Her family settled in Albuquerque in 1997, where she attended Sandia High School and later earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of New Mexico. That background gives her campaign a personal edge, and it also explains why her pitch has centered on representation, not just party labels.
What she is up against is the state’s political terrain. Democrats have maintained a strong electoral advantage in New Mexico, which makes her run as a Republican a steep climb even before the campaign is judged on its message. Stansbury, who won a 2021 special election after Deb Haaland was appointed to lead the US Department of Interior, is seeking another term and has built much of her work around water security, healthcare, public services and federal investment in New Mexico.
That contrast leaves the race with a clear test. Okpareke is trying to turn a personal biography into a breakthrough for representation, while Stansbury is defending a seat in a district that has favored Democrats. The next answer comes on November 3: whether a daughter of Nigerian immigrants can make history in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District or whether the district’s usual partisan pattern holds again.
