LAS CRUCES — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson headlined a fundraiser for Republican congressional candidate Greg Cunningham at a private residence Monday in Las Cruces .
Much like Johnson’s visit to the state in late August, his surprise stop in Doña Ana County — just 22 days before the Nov. 3 election — prompted protest.
About 50 supporters of Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez stood at the corner of Soledad Canyon and Dripping Springs Road on Monday afternoon chanting and holding signs with the words “No Kings” and “Abolish Fascism,” as cars turned in the direction of Cunningham’s fundraiser, which was closed to media.
Republicans are hoping to flip the 2nd Congressional District, which stretches from the Albuquerque area to the U.S.-Mexico border, in what is expected to be a tight election for control of Congress.
This year, Johnson’s federal leadership political action committee, American Revival PAC, has contributed at least $10,000 to Cunningham’s campaign, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The congressional race between incumbent Vasquez and Cunningham, a former Marine veteran and retired police detective, is likely to be the closest of its kind in New Mexico. Although Democratic state lawmakers redrew the district to make it more blue after the 2020 census, Trump narrowly carried it in 2024 even as Vasquez won a second term. Ads have been increasingly vitriolic as spending ramps up and election day approaches.
Vasquez leads Cunningham by four points: 48% to 44%, according to an Albuquerque Journal poll released Monday. Still, the Journal noted 8% of voters are undecided and the polling falls within a 5% margin of error.
“Today’s Albuquerque Journal poll confirms what we are seeing on the ground: Gabe is stalled and Greg is closing the gap. This is a margin of error race and Greg has the momentum because New Mexico voters know Gabe Vasquez has sold out our district,” Josiah Ward, a spokesperson for Cunningham, wrote in a statement. “That’s why Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is in Las Cruces today campaigning with us while Gabe Vasquez is back home in DC taking New Mexican’s votes for granted.”
Vasquez also noted the race was narrow during a Monday media call.
“Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. This is one of the tightest congressional races in the country, truly as purple as they come, and every New Mexican, they need to make their voice heard on November 3rd because this election is likely going to be decided by just a handful of votes,” Vasquez said, adding that in his first congressional run, he narrowly edged out Republican Yvette Herrell by 1,200 votes.
Vasquez took issue with what he called a fundraiser featuring “MAGA’s wealthy elites.”
“The corporate billionaires that sit around Trump in the Oval Office have already spent almost $9 million to try to buy this seat for Greg, flooding New Mexico’s airwaves with lies about my record and personal petty attacks,” Vasquez said during the media call. “Today, Greg is making a surprise visit to Las Cruces to get a little bit more of that MAGA money down south, but New Mexicans can’t be bought.”
Las Cruces social worker Jamie Blair already cast her ballot for Vasquez during early voting. To Blair, it was “really odd to have a fundraiser this close to the election. I thought it was a sign of desperation. I support Gabe, of course, and I really can’t stand Mike Johnson; he’s so dangerous. I thought: ‘If it’s true that he’s showing up, I want to stand here and be here.’ ”
A contact for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.