Courtesy photos
Yvette Herrell, left, and Xochitl Torres Small
Lots of attention. Lots of money.
That’s what voters in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District should expect in the coming months as two women battle to replace Steve Pearce in the U.S. House.
Following news that Xochitl Torres Small of Las Cruces emerged as the Democratic nominee for the seat on Tuesday evening, the president of EMILY’S List, a national political advocacy organization for women, revealed what’s to come. Stephanie Schriock said New Mexico voters “have a clear choice in November” between Torres Small, their preferred candidate, and Republican Yvette Herrell, who emerged as the winner of the Republican primary.
Torres Small “will be the champion New Mexican families deserve” — and, perhaps more relevant — “has what it takes to flip this vulnerable seat,” Schriock said.
In other words, national political groups have their eyes on this race — the Democrats’ first chance to snag the seat since Harry Teague held it for one term and then lost it in 2010. Expect New Mexico’s 2nd District to be one of the most hotly contested U.S. House races in the nation this year.
National groups already had their eyes on this seat. Herrell had the endorsements in the GOP primary of the National Rifle Association and Susan B. Anthony List, among others. Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina urged GOP voters in Southern New Mexico to back her.
EMILY’S List was among the groups backing Torres Small in her primary, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico actively campaigned for her.
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Albuquerque Journal in May that Democrats had a good chance of picking up the seat. On Tuesday evening, he was quoted by the Journal as saying Torres Small’s victory “puts this seat on the map, and represents the best opportunity to flip this seat in nearly a decade.”
The expansive district, usually a GOP stronghold, is roughly the size of Pennsylvania. It includes the state’s second-largest urban center, Las Cruces, which has become an overwhelmingly Democratic region thanks to changing demographics and strong organizing.
Outside of Doña Ana County, the district is vastly different. People depend on oil, gas and ranching, and many view their jobs and way of life as under attack from the left. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans in the 2nd District – 40 percent to 36 percent — and some Democrats have historically helped Republicans hold this seat.
But voter turnout is generally up across the nation since President Donald Trump’s election in 2016. A shift among the electorate since then to the left, coupled with excitement about Democratic women running for office, has some believing conventional wisdom about who this district sends to Washington may not hold true this year.
In response to an NMPolitics.net request for analysis of the race on Facebook, Del Hansen called Torres Small “an amazing woman.”
“You couldn’t draw a sharper line between her and her opponent,” he said.
Ray Wilkinson, on the other hand, wrote that Republicans “will pull out all their resources to keep this seat from flipping.”
The chair of the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, was quoted by the Journal as saying that New Mexicans “deserve better than far-left Pelosi puppet Xochitl Torres Small.”
“Yvette Herrell has stood strong for New Mexico values – fighting for lower taxes, common-sense regulations, and secure borders,” Stivers said.
On Facebook, Nancy Hudson wrote that both candidates “are amazing ladies” but she’s betting that Herrell will win.
“I know her very well and she has amazing character and leadership attributes,” Hudson said.
State Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, summed it up on Facebook, predicting that the race will be “the eye of the (national) hurricane.”