Congressional District 2 Gets the Spotlight

The most competitive U.S. House race in the state, and one of the most watched in the country, doesn’t just take center stage on New Mexico in Focus this week — it rightfully takes the whole stage. Tonight, we’re dedicating the full hour to the consequential contest for Congressional District 2 between Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez and his Republican challenger, Greg Cunningham. 

Congressional Republicans this midterm are white-knuckling their slim majority in the House, which Democrats are favored to take away. New Mexico’s CD2 was one of just 13 in the country where voters went for President Donald Trump in 2024 while also electing a Democrat to Congress.  So, Republicans are eying it as a flippable seat. 

That’s why Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise visited New Mexico this week, though they missed Balloon Fiesta by just days — the time of year we usually expect an influx of out-of-staters who don’t otherwise pay much attention to us. Trump also endorsed Cunningham, a former Marine and Albuquerque police officer, in a social media video. 

And after Vasquez won the seat from Republican Yvette Herrell in 2022 by less than 1%, and only beat her by 4% in a 2024 rematch, the Democratic Party doesn’t appear to be taking the seat for granted. They sent out a headliner of their own — former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — last month to rally for the two-term congressman. 

Both parties thinking they have a real chance in CD2 isn’t at all far-fetched. Of New Mexico’s three congressional districts, the second has flipped between parties the most in recent years. That said, it’s yet to change back to red since lawmakers redrew it in 2021. 

The Democratic-led Legislature changed the district’s boundaries — and partisan makeup — considerably that year by including Albuquerque’s deep-blue South Valley and excluding parts of the MAGA-heavy southeast oil patch. The state GOP sued, arguing the district was now nearly unwinnable for a Republican. But a state district judge disagreed, ruling in 2023 that Democrats’ efforts did not “rise to the level of an egregious gerrymander.” The judge cited that 2022 election, when Vasquez prevailed by the skin of his teeth, as proof that it’s not a safe blue district. 

With an Albuquerque Journal poll out this week showing the spread at just 4%, with Vasquez out ahead, it’s likely this will end up another nailbiter. Notably, however, Vasquez has a much wider lead in the district’s cities of Las Cruces (his hometown) and Albuquerque (Cunningham’s). 

All that historical and political context aside, we at NMiF aren’t in the election-prediction game. We’re more in the informed, in-depth, longform interview game if I was gonna try and nail it down. And that’s what we offer you this week. 

I sat with Vasquez for about half the show, and Cunningham for the other half. I start out with Vasquez, asking about his background and record. Then, it’s Cunningham’s turn for a bit of a candidate profile and inquiry about his preparedness for Congress. We finish out both interviews with a focus on the key issues facing whichever of them ends up serving in the 120th Congress, and what they plan to do about them. 

Join us before you head out to vote if you’re taking advantage of expanded early voting, which begins tomorrow. And if you missed our coverage of the governor’s race or the land commissioner contest, check those out on our YouTube Channel, too. Then tune back in over the next couple weeks for more Congressional coverage and a look at the race for secretary of state.

-Nash Jones, Host