Oct. 24—ALBUQUERQUE — U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of California laid out the high stakes of New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District race Thursday during a rally in this city’s South Valley.
“We can’t win back the House of Representatives unless Gabe wins — we just can’t do that,” he said, referring to freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who is running for reelection in a rematch against his predecessor, Republican Yvette Herrell.
“If we cannot win a district like this, we will be further relegated to the minority,” Schiff told the enthusiastic group of voters and volunteers gathered at a Democratic Party of New Mexico auxiliary field office.
At another rally a few hours later, this one on the campus of Legacy Church on Albuquerque’s Westside, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana delivered a similar message to a group of energetic Herrell supporters.
“This is one of the best battlefield districts in America,” he said. “You have a real opportunity and you’re about to flip a seat, unseat Gabe Vasquez, who votes against you every day, and elect someone who has wonderful values and wonderful integrity.”
With just over a week until Election Day, Schiff and Scalise’s performance in New Mexico illustrates the national interest in a highly competitive district that has flipped back and forth between Democrats and Republicans in recent years.
“We know how hard it is to win a district,” Vasquez said at the meeting. “We’ve seen this district bounce back and forth for a few years, but before that it was a solidly Republican district. We know the importance of this state when it comes to the House of Representatives and ensure that we do not do this alone. to win the House, but that we make Hakeem Jeffries speaker.”
Vasquez described his opponent as a MAGA Republican “who is going to toe the Trump Party line.”
“My opponent offers nothing but negativity,” he said. “My opponent wants to ensure that every pregnant woman is on a national registry and that their doctors go to jail if they provide life-saving care.”
As Vasquez continued to attack Herrell over abortion, calling her a threat to women’s reproductive rights, Herrell went after Vasquez over border security, calling him weak on crime.
“We need a secure border. We need a better economy. We want our children to be set up for success, not failure. And we must make sure we support our law enforcement every step of the way,” she said. “I’m not a ‘defund the police’ kind of guy. I’m a ‘defend the police’ kind of guy.”
At Herrell’s event, Scalise was joined by U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, Celeste Maloy of Utah and Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, as well as Jeff Crank, who is running for a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives.
“These guys have traveled around because they know the importance of these races,” Herrell said. “They know the importance of New Mexico.”
In an interview after the meeting — before both Vasquez and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is running for a third term against Republican Nella Domenici — Schiff said Democrats have a lot of confidence in Vasquez and his campaign.
“He’s running against someone who has a very poor record in Congress of serving her constituents, of bringing resources home, and as far as I can see, he’s deeply out of step with where voters here stand when it comes to issues like reproductive freedom,” he said. . “I think the choice is pretty clear.”
Scalise said Vasquez is a puppet of the liberal Democrats.
“When Yvette said this is one of the top five, maybe top three, most competitive and toughest races in the country, she meant it,” Scalise said during the rally. “We’re trying to flip a seat from someone … who votes with Nancy Pelosi more than 95% of the time … to Yvette Herrell, who is actually going to support Donald Trump and want to get our country back on track and make America great. again.”
Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.
