LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (Border Report) – Only one Democrat – Harry Teague in 2008 – had managed to win New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District since the turn of the millennium.

But things started to change after seven-term Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce retired in 2018. The district has alternated between red and blue since then.

That may explain why the dirt is flying in campaign ads run by former U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, a Republican, and incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez.

Herrell is calling Vasquez a radical who wanted to defund the police, allegedly used a racial slur on a former coworker and was involved in domestic disturbances. Vasquez has run ads calling Herrell a liar and taking her to task on “extremist” views on abortion – a big issue among women voters nationwide.

A political observer says both candidates are putting all their irons in the fire because the race is close.

“That’s a very contested seat that has gone back and forth, so this is not a lock for either side,” said Richard Pineda, director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communication Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso. “They have the money and it’s coming down to the wire, so you’re going to see a lot of ads because there’s no second shot at this,”

The race has national implications. The most optimistic polls assure neither party more than 214 seats of 218 needed for a House majority. Both are pouring resources into toss up districts.

“I saw quite a few ads Saturday night and they were playing during the Texas-Georgia game. That’s prime time during a major (NCAA) football game. Anybody paying for ads in that window is spending quite a bit of money,” Pineda said.

But he questioned whether the attacks would change people’s minds this close to the Nov. 5 general election. “Voters already know you and they might be committed. But I think both sides are willing to risk irritating people just to stay at the top of their mind” and motivate them to vote, Pineda said.

He wants citizenship for temporary workers; she wants resources for Border Patrol

Vasquez previously served in the Las Cruces City Council and is a former staff member for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich. In a recent campaign event, he played up his family’s immigrant experience, his love of nature and commitment to “clean” energy.

“Across the state of New Mexico, we have some of the best laws to help support workers, to make sure immigrants can have identification, have driver’s licenses thanks to the hard work of immigrant rights organizations,” he told members of La Semilla, a community advocate for food security.

Vasquez’s family is from Mexico. He was born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in Juarez, Mexico. His bicultural upbringing gives him an insight on how important immigrants are to the U.S., he says.

“I’ve talked to Republicans who have onion sheds and chile farms,” he said. “When I talk to them, they say, ‘The number one issue that I’m facing is a labor shortage. I can’t let my onions rot out in the field. […] We need more immigrants.’”

He favors comprehensive immigration reform and individual bills to increase work visas and legalize migrants brought illegally into the country while children – the “Dreamers.”

“We have a program for agricultural workers in which they can only stay for nine months and then go back to their country of origin, then come back for another nine months,’” he said. “Imagine being away from your family for nine months at a time every single year. That’s not fair. Not only do they deserve citizenship, but their families deserve citizenship.”

Herrell, a Ruidoso, New Mexico, native and member of the Cherokee Nation, says illegal immigration is not fair to lawful immigrants. She received the endorsement of the national Border Patrol union.

“We need to step out of the way and allow Border Patrol to do their jobs,” Herrell said. “I think it’s important we recognize the morale for the Border Patrol is down, and that’s because this administration and (Homeland Security) Secretary (Alejandro) Mayorkas have hampered them from doing the jobs they signed up to do.”

Herrell backed the Secure the Border Act of 2023 (HR 2), which called for additional border wall construction, retention bonuses for border agents, restrictions to the online CBP One app, a tougher fear-of-persecution standard for asylum seekers and the reinstatement of “Remain in Mexico” – a Trump-era protocol that makes them wait in another country while U.S. immigration courts rule on their case.

“That was probably the most comprehensive bill that was introduced and, sadly, it passed the House and was party lined” in the Senate, Herrell said. “It would have stopped ‘catch and release,’ it would have reinstated ‘Remain in Mexico,’ it would have put more boots on the ground and given Border Patrol the tools they need and the budget they need.”

“Catch and release” is law enforcement speak for apprehending migrants and letting them go with a notice to appear in immigration court later, sometimes years later.

Oil and gas, abortion and character

The negative campaigning has so permeated this congressional race that each candidate at times felt obligated to “set the record straight” when asked by Border Report about their position on issues.

“One of the myths that we have heard time and time again is that Democrats want to do away with fossil fuels and energy independence,” Vasquez said in an interview. “What we’ve seen under the Biden administration is more fossil fuel production and larger profits for oil and gas companies than in the history of the country. […] When it comes to renewable energy, those are additional jobs.”

New Mexico is the nation’s second-largest oil producing state after Texas, accounting for 14 percent of total U.S. crude oil production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Herrell said she’s not against alternative fuels.

“There are other avenues we can look at in terms of green energy, but we can’t lose sight of the fact fossil fuels will always be the bedrock of our economy, our national security and we have to do what we have to do to support those jobs, like opening up permitting, opening up land leases, ensuring that we don’t have executive orders hampering our ability to produce,” she said.

Abortion has become a red-hot campaign topic in many House races nationwide since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Herrell finds herself the target of TV ads featuring a video clip in which the candidate appears to advocate against all abortions.

In a TV ad called “Distract and Divide,” Herrell firmly states she is “pro-life” but supports exceptions of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. Her opponents point to Herrell co-sponsoring the Life at Conception Act of 2021 which declares the right to life of human beings at “fertilization, cloning or other moment an individual comes into being.” Her supporters said the bill says at the end it “does not authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.”

Vasquez says that despite a politically divided House he has tried to reach across the aisle on important issues and secured funding for New Mexico.

“What we’ve seen in the past is my opponent brought home zero dollars. When you bring projects home for education, for infrastructure – which I’ve been successfully able to do (for the district) – that is the type of leadership we need,” he said.

Herrell says she is reaching out to voters regardless of whether they are Republicans or Democrats.

“I feel party affiliation is getting in the way of good policy discussion. Regardless of where I go in the district, we all start talking about the same things: The open border, this economy, crime and education,” Herrell said. “I think it’s time we send a person to Congress that more aligns with what your values are for your family, your business, your community and your state.”