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Congresswoman Yvette Herrell speaks on the race for New Mexico's Second Congressional District

Jonny Coker
Yvette Herrell watches numbers trickle in on election night.

As of Wednesday evening, New Mexico’s Second Congressional District race has Gabe Vasquez leading Congresswoman Yvette Herrell by just over 1,000 votes, according to the unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State. On election night, while the race was too close to call, Yvette Herrell said that her campaign had given their all in their attempt to retain the recently redistricted congressional seat.

Yvette Herrell speaks on the race for New Mexico's Second Congressional District

“You know we focused so much on what we needed to do in New Mexico, especially in this new congressional district, and so I believe everyone is just running their hardest race,” Herrell said. “It will be interesting, because … this isn’t the only seat that hasn’t been called tonight, I think there’s a few others around the country. But it’s just such an important time in our history and our world really, so I feel like everybody probably left everything on the table, and [we’ll] see where it ends up.”

When asked about the currently divisive political climate, Herrell said that her focus is on trying to raise the quality of life for Americans through policy.

“I still think at the end of the day we have to be thinking about the future of our country and really for so many people it really is truly about faith, family, [and] freedom. But there's so many things happening now that are very confusing for the American people. There's so much uncertainty and I think really a lot of it's been brought on by bad policies in Washington, I've been there, so it's time to prioritize the American people first,” Herrell said.

Although the congresswoman expressed disappointment with the lack of results, she showed appreciation for her supporters, and said that it was important to let the democratic process play out.

“At the end of the day I understand the process and [I] want to make sure that they're able to get every vote counted. The race is super important, so we want to make sure that the Secretary of State gets all the information they need, and those are the numbers we’re working off of,” Herrell said. “It touches my heart to see how many people came out tonight, and I’m so proud of our team, and the support, and we’re going to see what happens in the next 24 hours.”

Jonny Coker is a Multimedia Journalist for KRWG Public Media. He has lived in Southern New Mexico for most of his life, growing up in the small Village of Cloudcroft, and earning a degree in Journalism and Media Studies at New Mexico State University.