Free Republic

New Mexico Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez is facing sharp criticism after touting his vote against the Laken Riley Act and attacking President Donald Trump’s immigration policies during an April 16 town hall event. At the meeting, Vasquez proudly announced his opposition to the legislation, which was signed into law by Trump on January 29. “I did. I voted against [the bill],” Vasquez declared to cheers from the audience. He added, “Because due process is a fundamental part of who we are as Americans,” attempting to frame his opposition as a defense of constitutional rights — despite the clear public safety...

Under the hot desert sun less than 40 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border last week, Representative Gabe Vasquez, Democrat of New Mexico, lashed out against Republicans who talk about abortion as a “states’ rights” issue, charging that their real agenda is to place severe limits on women’s access to health care. “That is now the de facto position of folks who want to limit women’s reproductive health care,” Mr. Vasquez told about 50 people at a groundbreaking for a new, $10 million state-funded reproductive health clinic. “We’ve seen the consequences of what this means for women.” It is a message...

On Wednesday, Gabe Vasquez, a far-left city councilor in Las Cruces, announced he is running for Congress in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District to challenge incumbent Republican Congresswoman Yvette Herrell. Vasquez is a known socialist who is diametrically opposed to most values held by the district — values that ex-Rep. Xochitl Torres Small — tried to use to sway moderates. He is a far-left rabid partisan with some of the most extreme far-left views available. Vasquez believes President Donald Trump’s southern border wall is an “insult” and he believes in the naturalization of criminal aliens into New Mexico. Vasquez claimed...

A day after Republicans won back New Mexico’s only conservative-leaning congressional district, a top state Democrat said its boundaries will be redrawn in redistricting that will be guided by super majorities in the Democrat-controlled Legislature. New Mexico House Speaker Brian Egolf, an architect of the state’s progressive Democratic wing, made the announcement Wednesday after GOP nominee Yvette Herrell beat Democratic U.S. House Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in part because of a Republican turnout surge in the 2nd Congressional District. “So this is the last election for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District with a map that looks like it looks now,”...

The race in New Mexico's second congressional district, one of 2020's most closely watched House toss-ups, is in a dead heat. Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small and Republican businesswoman and former state Rep. Yvette Herrell each received 46% support in a poll conducted by the Tarrance Group for the National Republican Congressional Committee, a summary of which was provided exclusively to the Washington Examiner. Another 8% of voters were undecided. The poll surveyed 400 voters from July 7-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9%. There are few polls of the House race. A December internal...

SANTA FE — A prospective candidate in the race for the 3rd Congressional District seat who was disqualified by the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office for using the wrong form to collect petition signatures is vowing to contest the decision through legal means. In an inculpatory statement provided to the Journal, the campaign for Republican Anise Golden-Morper accused Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse-Oliver, a Democrat, of playing politics and using “dirty tricks” to eliminate the leading fundraiser among GOP candidates. “Anise is being targeted by a hyper-partisan witch hunt similar to what just happened to President Trump in Washington...

The conservative Hobbs Republican not only defeated [Roxanne "Rocky"] Lara, a Carlsbad lawyer and former Eddy County commissioner, but he, percentage-wise, racked up the most commanding election victory in the state – and of his congressional career. [Steve] Pearce won every county in the 2nd Congressional District, even outpacing Lara in heavily Democratic Doña Ana County. When all the ballots were tallied, Pearce took nearly 65 percent of the 2nd District vote, compared with Lara’s 35 percent. As far as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was concerned, the general election in New Mexico’s 2nd District wasn’t supposed to turn out...

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce is a seasoned Beltway pragmatist who says he is running for re-election because this is a turning point for the nation. Pearce, a Republican from Hobbs, is seeking a fifth term representing southern New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, a seat he won back after an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2008. Pearce held the District 2 seat from 2002-2008. He also served in the state House of Representatives. Pearce believes the nation is at a decision point and worries it may be going the way of failing European nations. A fighter for fiscal responsibility, he...

This election is about a clear choice on America's way forward. It's about whether you want a government to take care of you, or one that gives you the opportunity to take care of yourself and prosper through your own hard work. If you believe more government programs, subsidies and regulations — all enacted with good intentions — are the way to lead us out of recession and make us competitive in a tough global economy, then the three Democrats seeking re-election to New Mexico's U.S. House of Representative seats would be the way to go. If you think we...

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reduced its TV ad buy in the 2nd Congressional District race as Democrat Harry Teague is struggling to defend himself against attacks from Republican Steve Pearce related to his company’s cutting of health care for employees. The DCCC, the campaign arm of Democrats in the U.S. House, has canceled this week’s TV ad buy in the El Paso media market. The group also appears to have increased its buy in the Albuquerque market for the 1st District race between Democrat Martin Heinrich and Republican Jon Barela while scaling back its buy in that market...

The showdown in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District between Democratic Rep. Harry Teague and Republican challenger Steve Pearce is shaping up as a nail-biter. Pearce, who held the southern New Mexico seat in the U.S. House from 2003 until 2009, has caught up to first-term incumbent Teague, according to a new Journal Poll. Forty-five percent of the 2nd District voters surveyed Sept. 27-30 said they would vote for Pearce, while 44 percent supported Teague. The district wide survey results have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. "We've got a classic close race on our hands,"...

Independent voters in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District — who could hold the key to the race — were almost evenly divided in a Journal Poll that found a close general election contest developing between Democratic Rep. Harry Teague and Republican challenger Steve Pearce. Teague, serving his first term in Congress, was the first Democrat to win election to southern New Mexico's 2nd District congressional seat in 28 years. He is trying to fend off a challenge from Pearce, a Republican who held the same southern New Mexico seat from 2003 until 2009. Sanderoff said Teague's slight edge in the...

New Mexicans following the endless twists and turns of the national health care debate might be interested in this new development: Rep. Harry Teague today voted with Republicans to force a separate vote on the health care bill. The Republican resolution failed on a 222-203 vote, with 28 Democrats - including Teague - voting in favor. Had it passed, Democrats would have been blocked from using a controversial "deem and pass" parliamentary tactic to get the bill to the president's desk. The "deem and pass" manuever could allow the bill to pass without individual members recording their votes ... Teague's...