U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Second Congressional District Republican Candidate Yvette Herrell began their day at a closed event at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.
Dozens of protesters stood outside of the museum, with many representing the Tularosa Basin Downwiders Consortium. Tina Cordova, co-founder of the group, called on Speaker Johnson to bring Senate Bill 3853 to the floor for a vote to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act for New Mexicans who say they were irradiated by nuclear testing in the state, and said she wasn’t confident in Herrell to push the issue.
“When Yvette Herrell served in Congress, she eventually became a co-sponsor to the bill that would extend and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. But over the last three months, she’s taken three different positions. We don’t know where she lands on this. The most recent position was that she supports us and that she would speak to Mike Johnson about it while he’s here,” Cordova said. “The bottom line is we requested a face-to-face meeting and she’s a gatekeeper. She could have made sure that happened. She could have made sure that we were on the inside, not on the outside standing here protesting.”
After leaving the Farm and Ranch Museum, the house speaker and former congresswoman spoke at a public event for the launch of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) campaign office within the city.
“Our nation is in harm’s way. The harm is this administration and these policies that are killing our country.” Herrell said. “And here we are because of the importance of the next 70 or 80 days. This is why we’re getting together. This is why we’re coming out, because you have to. You have to be educated, and you have to know what is at stake and where the positions are. And believe me, it could not be more stark.”
The pair spoke to local party members and supporters for about 20 minutes on issues including immigration and public safety. Speaker Johnson also talked about election security and voting irregularities, despite evidence showing there was no widespread fraud during the 2020 election. There was no comment or acknowledgement of RECA or the protesters that followed the pair to the campaign office.
“We’re worried about some of the swing states and some of these states that got crazy rules, so we’ve got to play by the rules that are presented,” Johnson said. “In California they have ballot harvesting. Democrats clean our clocks on that because they ballot harvest like professionals. What we’re doing this time around is we’re recruiting and training republican ballot harvesters. We’ve got to beat them at their own game.”
KRWG requested an interview with the house speaker as well as Yvette Herrell, but an NRCC spokesperson told us that neither would be available for press, citing the pair’s busy schedule.
As election day draws closer, fundraising efforts by both campaigns are heating up, with Herrell’s campaign raising nearly $2.5 million between January 2023 and June of 2024, and Congressman Vasquez’s campaign raising nearly $4 million in that same time period. The race for the state’s second congressional district is expected to be close, attracting national attention as it could influence control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025.
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