Democrat challenger Gabe Vasquez defeated incumbent Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM) in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District.
The Associated Press called the race for Vasquez at 8:36 a.m. Mountain time on Thursday. Herrell conceded the race Wednesday evening on Facebook. She congratulated Vasquez for his victory but also slammed the district’s gerrymandering process.
Her statement read:
While we are disappointed by the final results, I am incredibly proud of our team and the work we did serving our district, and I am grateful for the steadfast support of so many who helped us along the way. I’d also like to congratulate Gabe Vasquez on his victory.Two years ago, the Democrats in Santa Fe announced they would gerrymander our district to ensure they would totally control our state’s federal delegation. Unfortunately, they did just that, ignoring the will of the people in the process by splitting up communities of interest and concentrating power in urban areas at the expense of rural New Mexico voices. While this was enough to give them a victory by less than 1% in this election, I am confident in our party’s ability to retake this seat next cycle as Joe Biden’s agenda continues to damage our great nation. Stay tuned!
The Second Congressional District, which used to include the southern half of New Mexico, from the Southeast to the Southwest, was gerrymandered by the Democrat-controlled legislature to include areas of suburban Albuquerque while excluding areas of Lea County, according to the Carlsbad Current-Argus.
While Vasquez sought to portray himself as a moderate during the election, he holds numerous far-left positions, which were revealed in a series of tweets he deleted, including attacking the state’s oil and gas industry, comparing former President Donald Trump’s America to the Ku Klux Klan and rationalizing the Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA riots in the summer, CNN reported.
New Mexico is the nation’s second-largest producer of oil and gas, bringing in an estimated $2.5 billion to the state’s budget each year. The Second Congressional District is also the most active fossil fuel region in both the state and the country, as it contains the Permian Basin oil fields.
Vasquez has previously stated he supports a “transition” from the fossil fuel industry in favor of wind and solar energy, which aligns with the Biden administration’s anti-energy agenda. Notably, President Joe Biden endorsed Vasquez in the run-up to the election.
Herrell focused her campaign on portraying Vasquez as an ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who would support anti-energy and defund the police policies. Herrell also supports tougher immigration policies along the southern border — as the entire district covers the southern border — and is opposed to abortion, while Vasquez supports expanding abortion rights.
Herrell was elected to the House in 2020, winning over then-incumbent Rep. Xochitl Torres Small by seven points. Herrell ran unopposed in the 2022 Republican primary for the district. She was also a former real estate agent and member of the New Mexico Legislature before entering congress.
Vasquez was previously a former Las Cruces city councilor and a political aide to Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.
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