GOP targets new Rep. Vasquez; Herrell plans announcement with House speaker

Mar. 30—Less than four months after being sworn into office, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez already has a big target on his back.

Vasquez has become a frequent punching bag of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which considers the first-term Democratic congressman a vulnerable candidate in the 2024 election.

Meanwhile, former U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, a conservative Republican who lost to Vasquez in November and has already filed paperwork to run again in 2024, plans to make a "special announcement" alongside House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 10 in the Democratic-leaning city of Las Cruces.

A spokesman for the former congresswoman did not return a message seeking comment, but a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of New Mexico said the GOP is "pretty sure" Herrell will announce a bid to return to her former office.

The 2nd Congressional District was long a Republican stronghold but has flipped to blue in recent years.

Herrell, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, held the seat until losing to Democrat Xochitl Torres-Small in 2018. She reclaimed the seat two years later but then, after the district was redrawn to be more Democratic, lost to Vasquez in 2022 by less than a percentage point, or 50.3% to 49.7%.

The Republican congressional committee, which has issued a series of unflattering news releases about Vasquez, announced Wednesday he is among three House Democrats who will be targeted in a billboard campaign over a recent vote he cast pertaining to the criminal code in Washington, D.C.

Vasquez voted against a resolution to block the new criminal code passed by the city, which reduced penalties for such crimes as burglary, carjacking and robbery.

"My vote on H.J. Res 24 was a vote to give the residents of Washington, D.C. autonomy over their own city and their own local decisions, particularly because they lack federal representation," he said in a statement.

"As a former [Las Cruces] City Councilor, I believe local governments should have a say in important local decisions without federal government overreach," he said, adding public safety is and always will be one of his top priorities.

The billboards, which will start to go up in April, say otherwise.

They will state Vasquez, whose photo will be displayed on the billboard, "voted for reduced sentences for violent crimes" while carjackings increased 11% in Albuquerque last year.

The billboard campaign comes on the heels of a digital advertising campaign that called Vasquez and 14 other Democrats "pandering politicians" who give murderers reduced sentences and carjackers slaps on the wrist.

Delanie Bomar, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote in an email Vasquez has "clearly aligned himself with the extreme wing of the Democrat Party."

"His support for defunding the police and reducing penalties for violent crime will absolutely come back to haunt him in 2024 and the NRCC will be there to remind voters every step of the way," she wrote about Vasquez, who told a TV station during a Black Lives Matter rally while he was a councilman the country needed serious police reform.

"It's not just about defunding the police," he said in the interview, which was used in attack ads during last year's campaign. "It's about defunding a system that privileges white people over everybody else."

Ash Soular, a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of New Mexico, said the party is "optimistic" 2024 will be a successful year for Republicans, who lost every statewide race in 2022 and didn't even put up a candidate in the race for state auditor.

"Our focus is winning the presidency [and] all the way down the ballot in New Mexico," she said. "We will continue to focus our work in showing New Mexicans do not align with the radical left agenda of removing parental rights, reducing penalties for criminals, attacking the Second Amendment and selling out New Mexico to the abortion lobby."

Soular also said Vasquez and the four other members of New Mexico's congressional delegation, all Democrats, have proven they don't "align with New Mexico's traditional values of faith, family and freedom."

Soular said Vasquez is the most vulnerable of the three U.S. representatives from New Mexico who will be up for reelection.

"He's just another puppet for the radical left's agenda, which sadly keeps New Mexico last," she said.

Earlier this month, the Democratic National Congressional Committee announced Vasquez was among 29 Democrats named to its Frontline program, which provides incumbents "from competitive seats the resources to execute effective reelection campaigns."

"In 2022, he spent over $4 million to win this seat," the Democratic congressional committee wrote on its website. "Republicans have their eyes set on NM-02 and will do everything they can to take back this seat, and Yvette Herrell has already filed to run again in 2024. We must ensure Rep. Vasquez has the resources necessary to hold this seat."

In his statement, Vasquez said he's done more to support the 2nd Congressional District in his first three months in office "than what our district got in the past two years."

He said he's traveled more than 3,000 miles meeting with constituents in the district, which is comprised of Southern New Mexico and now includes parts of Albuquerque's South Valley after a redistricting Republicans are challenging in court.

"I've met Republican mayors and counties that I didn't win because being NM-02's representative means being accessible and present for ALL my constituents," he said, adding he's also fighting to get the district federal funding, including Community Project Funding, which he said is something the "previous office" never did.

"I know I'm a target," he said. "But I'm not scared."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.