Martin Trevor Heinrich ( HYNE-rik; born October 17, 1971) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Mexico, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Heinrich served as the U.S. representative from New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2009 to 2013. He and fellow senator Ben Ray Luján are the co-deans of New Mexico's congressional delegations.
Born in Fallon, Nevada, Heinrich resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From 2004 to 2008, he served on the Albuquerque City Council, representing the 6th district. Heinrich was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008 and reelected in 2010.
In lieu of running for a third term in the House, Heinrich ran for the Senate seat vacated by retiring senator Jeff Bingaman in the 2012 election and defeated Republican Heather Wilson, 51%–45%. He was reelected in 2018 and 2024. During the 118th Congress, Heinrich chaired the Joint Economic Committee, having previously served as vice chair. In January 2021, Heinrich became New Mexico's senior senator when Tom Udall retired from the Senate.
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Early life and education
Martin Trevor Heinrich was born in Fallon, near Carson City, Nevada. He is the son of seamstress Shirley A. (née Bybee) and Pete C. Heinrich, a utility company lineman. His father was born in Waldenburg, Germany, as Heinrich Peter Karl Cordes and later took his stepfather Olaf Heinrich's surname. When he was naturalized as an American citizen in 1955, he changed his name again to Pete Carl Heinrich. Raised as a Lutheran, Martin Heinrich grew up in Cole Camp, Missouri. He attended public schools in Cole Camp, then moved to Columbia, Missouri, in 1989 to attend the University of Missouri. He graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He left Missouri for Albuquerque to take graduate courses at the University of New Mexico.
Early career
After a brief stint doing mechanical drawings, Heinrich worked as an AmeriCorps fellow in New Mexico.
From 1996 to 2001 Heinrich served as executive director of the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation, a New Mexico nonprofit organization dedicated to educating young people on natural science and the environment. In 2002 he founded his own public affairs consulting firm.
Heinrich served on the Albuquerque City Council from 2004 to 2008, including one term as city council president in 2006. As a city councilman, he said his goals were to reduce crime, raise the minimum wage and create new jobs. He also advocated the use of wind and solar power.
In February 2006 Governor Bill Richardson appointed Heinrich to be the state's Natural Resources Trustee.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
In 2008 Heinrich filed papers to run in New Mexico's 1st congressional district, based in Albuquerque. He originally planned to challenge five-term Republican incumbent Heather Wilson, but Wilson retired to run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Pete Domenici. Heinrich won the Democratic primary on June 4, 2008, defeating New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, State Health Secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham, and U.S. Army veteran Robert Pidcock, 44–25–24–8%.
In the general election Heinrich faced Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, whom Heinrich's campaign focused on linking to President George W. Bush. Heinrich also called for energy independence and an end to the war in Iraq. He defeated White 56–44%, carrying three of the district's five counties: Bernalillo (56%), Sandoval (56%), and Valencia (53%); White won Santa Fe (64%) and Torrance (57%) counties. Heinrich is the first Democrat to represent the district, which had been in Republican hands since New Mexico was split into districts in 1969 but became increasingly friendly to Democrats, having gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1992.
Heinrich was challenged by Republican Jon Barela, who told Politico he did not believe Heinrich reflected the district, saying he was too far left on budget and spending issues. During the 2010 campaign Roll Call reported that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee assigned a lobbyist to aid in the reelection campaigns of possibly vulnerable House members in fundraising, messaging and campaign strategy. Heinrich was elected to a second term, defeating Barela 52–48%, and carrying two of the district's counties: Bernalillo (53%) and Sandoval (51%). Barela won Santa Fe (67%), Torrance (61%), and Valencia (53%) counties.
Tenure
On January 14, 2009, the House Democratic freshmen elected Heinrich to a six-month term as their class president. He co-sponsored the Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act, which would cancel an automatic $4,700 salary raise for members of Congress.
On March 21, 2010, Heinrich voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act). In 2017 he co-sponsored Medicare-For-All.
NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC endorsed Heinrich in 2010.
Heinrich received a 100% score from NARAL in 2009.
Heinrich has identified as an environmentalist throughout his career. He served as executive director of the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation, a New Mexico nonprofit organization dedicated to educating young people on natural science and the environment, and founded his own public affairs consulting firm.
Later, as a member of the Albuquerque City Council, he advocated for the use of wind and solar power. In February 2006 Governor Bill Richardson appointed him to be the state's Natural Resources Trustee. He also served on the executive committee of the Sierra Club's Rio Grande Chapter. In August 2011 he received the Sierra Club's first endorsement of the 2012 election cycle. He opposes construction of the Keystone Pipeline. He supports cap-and-trade legislation. In April 2019 Heinrich was one of three Democratic senators who joined Republicans to vote to confirm David Bernhardt, a former oil executive, as Secretary of the Interior Department.
In late 2019, Heinrich was one of 14 senators to co-sponsor the Green New Deal, a policy introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate that would establish net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Heinrich was a member of the Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, which published a report of its findings in August 2020.
After his 2012 Senate primary opponent, Hector Balderas, announced his support for same-sex marriage, Heinrich's staff released a statement to The New Mexico Independent newspaper stating, "Martin has supported gay marriage for some time. I just don't think he was asked about it. Thanks for asking!" He was an original cosponsor of Congressman Jerry Nadler's 2009 legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Committee assignments
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
Select Committee on Intelligence
Caucus memberships
Senate Taiwan Caucus
U.S. Senate
Elections
Heinrich announced that he would leave the House to run for the United States Senate seat held by Jeff Bingaman, who retired at the end of his term. In March, Politico reported that Al Gore had signed a fundraising letter for Heinrich. Heinrich defeated State Auditor Hector Balderas in the Democratic primary. He defeated Republican Heather Wilson, his predecessor in Congress, in the November 6 general election, 51% to 45%.
Heinrich was reelected to a second term in 2018 over Republican Mick Rich and Libertarian Gary Johnson. He gained 54% of the vote to Rich's 30% and Johnson's 15%.
Heinrich was elected to a third Senate term, defeating Republican nominee Nella Domenici with 55% of the vote.
Tenure
In 2014, Heinrich and Senator Jeff Flake traveled to Eru, a small island in the Marshall Islands. The Discovery Channel sent a film crew to document their trip and planned to air the footage on a show called "Rival Survival". Heinrich and Flake had to survive for six days with few resources, including no natural sources of drinkable water. After the trip, Heinrich told reporters that he and Flake, a Republican, did it to demonstrate that politicians from different parties can work together, in their case to survive.
In March 2019, Heinrich and Rob Portman co-founded the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus.
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Heinrich to join a bipartisan task force on reopening the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On July 19, 2024, Heinrich called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 United States presidential election.
In March 2026, Heinrich was one of only two Democratic senators to vote to advance the nomination of Markwayne Mullin as head of the Department of Homeland Security. Heinrich said he considered Mullin a friend.
Heinrich is a member of the Fight Club in the U.S. Senate.
On April 17, 2013, Heinrich voted to expand background checks for gun purchases, and against regulating assault weapons.
In response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Heinrich said that Congress should pass legislation to combat gun violence.
On September 27, 2013, Heinrich voted to restore funding for the Affordable Care Act as part of an amendment to legislation funding government operations for 45 days, and which also omitted House-passed language prioritizing debt payments if Congress fails to increase the nation's borrowing limits.
Heinrich was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. He left the chamber to make a phone call and saw that the rioters were overwhelming the Capitol Police. He returned to the chamber to tell people what he saw: "an out-of-control mob climbing over things, waving Confederate flags, just clearly bent on breaking into the west side of the Capitol." Along with other senators, Heinrich was evacuated from the Senate chamber to an undisclosed location. He called the attack an "assault on democracy" and blamed Trump for inciting it. In the wake of the attack, Heinrich said invoking the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and/or impeachment should be used to remove Trump from office.
Committee assignments
Heinrich served on the following Senate committees in the 119th Congress:
Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on National Parks
Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining
Subcommittee on Water and Power
Select Committee on Intelligence
Joint Economic Committee
Personal life
Heinrich lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife, Julie, and their two children. He is Lutheran.