Politics

Gabe Vasquez projected to win New Mexico Congressional District 2 race

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(NewsNation) — NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ has called the race for New Mexico’s District 2 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of Rep. Gabe Vasquez. See the results of U.S. House and U.S. Senate races around the country here.

Democrat U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez entered the rematch with Republican challenger Yvette Herrell, whom he defeated in 2022 to win the seat. 

The district represents much of southern New Mexico, including communities such as Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Silver City and Las Cruces as well as part of the greater metropolitan Albuquerque region.

The Cook Political Report called the District 2 race a toss up, making it an important election nationwide as Republicans entered Tuesday hoping to maintain their slim majority in the U.S. House. 

Both candidates have gotten national party support, with Vasquez drawing backing from House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries while Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have campaigned as Herrell is attempting to reclaim the seat for the Republicans.

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Abortion and border security remained top talking points for both Vasquez and Herrell during their respective campaigns. 

Vasquez, a former councilor in Albuquerque, continually held up Herrell as an anti-abortion stalwart and has used her voting record on the issue to back up his claims. 

Herrell has portrayed Vasquez as an “extreme liberal” whose opposition to Republican-led border legislation has led to failures in attempts to curb the number of immigrants entering the country illegally.

Heading into Tuesday’s election, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. Republicans control the chamber with a narrow majority of 220 seats while the Democrats occupy 212 and three vacancies.