Ndidiamaka “Didi” Okpareke, the 43-year-old daughter of Nigerian immigrants, is running for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District as a Republican against Melanie Stansbury. She says she is a mother of three and wants to become the first Black woman to represent New Mexico in the House. Abdul El-sayed parents appears in the reporting as a keyword, but the race itself centers on Okpareke and the district she is trying to flip.
Okpareke’s bid in New Mexico
Okpareke said, “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,” giving her campaign a direct claim about who she is and what she wants to change. She is seeking a House seat in the November 3 midterm elections.
She was born in California, after her parents left Nigeria following the 1967–1970 Biafran War. Her family settled in Albuquerque in 1997, and she attended Sandia High School before earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of New Mexico.
Melanie Stansbury in New Mexico
Stansbury won the district in a 2021 special election after Deb Haaland was appointed to lead the US Department of Interior. She is now seeking another term, which makes Okpareke’s challenge a direct contest against an incumbent with recent statewide backing in the same seat.
The race also sits inside a larger field: Okpareke is one of seven candidates of African descent seeking seats in the United States Congress in the November 3 midterm elections. That puts her campaign in a broader test of whether more candidates with African roots can move from symbolic representation to winning seats.
New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District
For voters in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, the immediate question is whether the district will keep a Democratic representative or send a Republican challenger who says she would be the first Black woman from the state in the House. The district has a strong Democratic advantage, so Okpareke’s path depends on whether her family story and campaign message can reach beyond the party baseline.
Her candidacy is tied to a simple result on November 3: either Stansbury keeps the seat, or Okpareke turns a long-shot challenge into a first for New Mexico representation in the House.
