{"id":638076,"date":"2018-10-23T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=638076"},"modified":"2018-10-24T07:24:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T13:24:18","slug":"pressure-on-the-campaign-trail-battle-for-cd2-no-sweat-for-herrell-and-torres-small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/10\/pressure-on-the-campaign-trail-battle-for-cd2-no-sweat-for-herrell-and-torres-small\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressure on the campaign trail: Battle for CD2 no sweat for Herrell and Torres Small"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_589912\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-589912\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Herrell-and-Torres-Small-771x357.jpg\" alt=\"Yvette Herrell and Xochitl Torres Small\" width=\"771\" height=\"357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Herrell-and-Torres-Small.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Herrell-and-Torres-Small-336x156.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Herrell-and-Torres-Small-768x356.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy photos<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yvette Herrell, left, and Xochitl Torres Small<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s just over two weeks before Election Day in one of the hottest races in the country \u2014 the 2nd Congressional District covering the southern half of New Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Attack TV ads and nasty mailers have bombarded the air waves and stuffed mailboxes \u2014 and in the age of social media, clogged the news feeds of fired-up voters \u2013 all paid for by millions in campaign cash, national Democratic and Republican party support and spending from dark money groups.<\/p>\n<p>And nothing points to the onslaught easing before Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>A 2nd Congressional District election is usually a quiet affair ending in a forgone conclusion. Voters have reliably sent conservative Republican Steve Pearce to Washington since 2003, except for a two-year hiatus when he ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate. Not this year. With Pearce running for governor, the district is one of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/index.php\/analysis\/house\/house-overview\/nine-kinds-races-will-decide-fate-house\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">75 seats considered vulnerable<\/a>\u00a0by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The outcome of these contests will determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n<p>At the center of this crucible are two women who don\u2019t want you to see them sweat.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmindepth.com\/2018\/10\/22\/pressure-on-the-campaign-trail-battle-for-cd2-no-sweat-for-herrell-and-torres-small\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Mexico In Depth<\/a>. Sign up for\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmindepth.us6.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=1d2ab093d81b992e50978b363&amp;id=9294743d38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">their newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>On Friday, after wrangling for scarce blocks of time on calendars jammed with appearances and campaigning, the candidates agreed to talk about their marathons across the district \u2014 the fifth largest in the country, stretching from the southern part of Albuquerque in the north to Sunland Park in the south and from Arizona to Texas. Neither had had much time to spend at home, but both were upbeat and energetic, and optimistic about their chances.<\/p>\n<p>Republican state Rep. Yvette Herrell was up early after a night of campaigning, and fueling up at the Starbucks on Teshor Boulevard in Las Cruces before another two-hour drive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am home less than I am on the road. It\u2019s such a beautiful state, so I do appreciate that, but it\u2019s a long ways in between towns sometimes,\u201d says Herrell, cupping her hands around a grande drink as coffee grinders whirred and espresso machines sputtered in the background. \u201cIt would be very easy to get caught up in the rhetoric, and all the pressure, but for me I know that the important issue is winning the race, and so I just stay focused on what I need to do, stay focused on meeting the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Xochitl Torres Small, a lawyer specializing in water issues and born and raised in Las Cruces, slipped in a conversation by phone in between two campaign events. That followed two days of visits with Pueblo leaders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of the most challenging things I\u2019ve ever done, but it\u2019s also been the most energizing and most rewarding,&#8221; she said. &#8220;To be able to get the chance to travel this enormous district to talk about our shared dreams and how we can achieve them is exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s too early to predict a winner. There are too many uncertainties. But whoever wins, one thing is certain: Voters in the 2nd Congressional District will send a woman to represent them in Washington for the first time, during an election cycle being referred to as the Year of the Woman.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Both women downplayed the effects of the #MeToo movement and Year of the Woman rhetoric in their decisions to run. Running for Congress was something she had been working toward for a long time, Herrell said, using eight years in the state Legislature to build relationships and experience. For Torres Small, the decision was all about community and finding a way to serve the place she had grown up in and returned to after college, she said.<\/p>\n<p>New Mexico pollster Brian Sanderoff, of Research and Polling Inc., has observed the race from Albuquerque for months; his poll last month found Herrell leading Torres Small by seven points. But that was more than five weeks ago, and a month can be an eternity in politics. These days he\u2019s experiencing firsthand the national interest the race is generating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI spent a half an hour on the phone with the New York Times this morning, a long, in-depth interview with the New Yorker magazine; people are calling from all over the nation talking about the race, and again, the reason it\u2019s become important is because of its national implications, not because they care about Las Cruces or Hobbs, New Mexico,\u201d Sanderoff said.<\/p>\n<p>A competitive race in the 2nd Congressional District \u201cis highly unusual,\u201d let alone a \u201cvery competitive one,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s only been competitive one time in over 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nationwide interest in the race and its rare chance to flip to Democratic control has meant a flood of cash for Torres Small. In the most recent campaign finance filing on Oct. 15, she reported raising $1,883,667, and had more than $1 million to spend in the final weeks of the campaign. That doesn\u2019t include the $1.1 million the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is spending to batter her opponent.<\/p>\n<p>Herrell raised less than a third of that in the same period, $564,027, and had just $419,124 in cash on hand. But she\u2019s also getting help from her national party, with the Republican National Campaign Committee spending about $1.2 million against Torres Small, among other outside spending by political action committees.<\/p>\n<p>That kind of money buys an awful lot of attack ads. It\u2019s something both women lament but understand goes with the territory in such a high-stakes race.<\/p>\n<p>Torres Small said the negative campaigning came up even from government students in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat question hit me in a different way talking to high school students, and what we all go through when we take on big things, when you step up and put yourself in the limelight. But, you know, people are going to say things that are wrong, that are untrue,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I\u2019m most proud of, in terms of the negativity, is that the only positive thing on the airwaves in terms of the campaign are my ads, my vision for leadership and the future. I\u2019m talking about solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Herrell said she had mentally prepared herself for a difficult campaign, but worried about the effects of attack ads against her on her parents and family. Still, she had no qualms about her own campaign ads.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe difference is our ads are data-based. The one\u2019s we\u2019re seeing coming out of the Small campaign are not. There\u2019s a huge difference. In fact, they\u2019re the same attack ads that came at me in the primary. We shut those down, there was no basis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the national attention and strategic help from the national parties, the candidates said they were working hard to keep this a campaign about things they believed southern New Mexico voters cared about and wanted fixed.<\/p>\n<h3>Hot-button issues<\/h3>\n<p>Beyond the cartoonish distinctions people can draw from sharp-elbowed ads in any high-stakes race, the two women do differ on the direction the country is headed and on hot-button issues.<\/p>\n<p>Even though President Donald Trump\u2019s popularity has dropped sharply in New Mexico, Herrell\u00a0remained strongly supportive of the president and what he has achieved over the past two years, she said, including the tax cuts and the renegotiated NAFTA trade agreement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s working. The dairy industry saw a huge uptick in the price for a gallon of milk,\u201d Herrell said. \u201cSo I think the excitement in seeing these agreements being redone and putting America on a level playing with our trade partners is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Herrell elaborated her views on border security and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, other hot-button Trump issues. DACA needs reform, she said. It was never been meant to be a pathway to citizenship. The application process needs to be streamlined, and there should be a way to legalize people who had been brought to the United States illegally as children \u2014 however, she said she didn\u2019t believe they should go to the front of the line over other immigrants who had sought to come to the United States legally.<\/p>\n<p>She has supported President Trump\u2019s call for a border wall but brings a more nuanced view of a debate that is all too easy to caricature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just people coming across the border, the checkpoint,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s also the cattle that are coming back and forth. It\u2019s the drugs that are coming through our farms and ranches down there, it\u2019s drug and human trafficking. \u2026 Having that voice, understanding the challenges, working with colleagues, working with constituents, that\u2019s where we\u2019ll find the solutions that will work for New Mexicans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Besides the wall, some options she named were increased National Guard presence and ICE agents, as well as technology.<\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, Torres Small has a different perspective on those national policies that hit home in southern New Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat said she was pleased that a new agreement had been made with Mexico and Canada, because as a net exporter, trade was important to New Mexico. But she said the year it took to negotiate and the uncertainty it caused was disruptive. One of her priorities in Congress would be to get the deal signed quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing a net exporter, with so much of our economy being about trade, it hurt us,\u201d she said. \u201cIn the future, when we look at our trade policy, certainty and ability to plan is fundamental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to immigration, what Torres Small wants to see is a \u201cclear and moral immigration system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Using the Dreamers as bargaining chips in a larger immigration debate is wrong, she said. She supports a pathway to citizenship for young adults in the DACA program.<\/p>\n<p>Torres Small said immigration laws should be enforced, but it has to be done smartly \u2014 and not with a border wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to invest in technology, and skilled and accountable law enforcement \u2014 and we\u2019ve done that,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have infrastructure that\u2019s based on situations on the ground. That\u2019s why we have tall pedestrian barriers in place, but that\u2019s see-through so Border Patrol agents can see potential threats. Car barriers where necessary. When you have a desert that takes more than three days to cross, what you really need there is technology to identify people who have crossed without identification.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also wants to invest in the state\u2019s ports of entry to support additional trade with Mexico, and to work toward a robust work visa system that would help farmers, and advocates a skills-based immigration system that prioritizes family reunification. \u201cWe all know people do better when surrounded by a network of support,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<h3>Voter excitement and turning out the vote<\/h3>\n<p>Both Herrell and Torres Small were gratified to see a surge of excitement in early voting. Do\u00f1a Ana County led the state in early voting until Saturday, when Bernalillo County \u2014 three times the size of its southern neighbor \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2018\/10\/17\/dona-ana-county-early-voting-tracker-we-still-leading-state\/1674747002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">surged ahead<\/a>\u00a0with more than 19,600 ballots cast after the first day of early in-person countywide voting started, to Do\u00f1a Ana County\u2019s total of 9,647 ballots cast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoters are paying attention. They\u2019re looking at the bigger picture. I think that\u2019s pushing people to the polls,\u201d Herrell said. \u201cI just encourage everyone to vote because it\u2019s such a privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While much of recent attention has been about the high turnout in\u00a0Do\u00f1a\u00a0Ana County, Herrell\u2019s home county of Otero has also been seeing a lot of excitement.<\/p>\n<p>Sanderoff, the pollster, approached the numbers with caution. The early signs from\u00a0Do\u00f1a Ana\u00a0County looked good for Democrats, but the real test would be who showed up on Election Day. The most enthusiastic voters turn up to vote early, and while this is expected to be an extraordinary midterm, it\u2019s still not a presidential election year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis race will be determined by turnout. If it\u2019s the same old, same old, then Xochitl Torres Small has trouble,\u201d Sanderoff said. It will be up to Las Cruces to \u201cflex its muscle for the first time politically\u201d as the second largest city in the state, and the largest city in the district, he said, if the Democrats have any chance of turning the Second Congressional District blue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDona Ana County is a sleeping giant,&#8221; Sanderoff said.<\/p>\n<p>In the meanwhile, however, Xochitl Torres Small and Yvette Herrell need to get back on the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The district is one of\u00a075 seats considered vulnerable\u00a0by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":589912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2238,219,116,3658,3664],"class_list":["post-638076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2018-election","tag-2nd-congressional-district","tag-washington","tag-xochitl-torres-small","tag-yvette-herrell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638076"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":638089,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638076\/revisions\/638089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}