A Trump endorsement, a 13,000-page fundraising report, a potential Libertarian comeback and a court date for Rep. Dow
Last week, former Marine and Albuquerque detective Greg Cunningham lost his only opponent in the June 2 Republican primary for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez. This week, Cunningham picked up a notable endorsement: from President Donald Trump.
Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social and said Cunningham “knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Defend our Country, Support our Brave Military, Veterans, and Law Enforcement and Ensure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
Vasquez has represented the district, which stretches roughly from Albuquerque’s South Valley to the U.S.-Mexico border, since 2022 when he narrowly defeated Republican Yvette Herrell.
“Greg is running against a Radical Left Democrat named Gabe Vasquez, who tried to raise Taxes by over $4 Trillion Dollars, and voted against all of our Tax Cuts, including NO TAX ON TIPS, NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY, and NO TAX ON OVERTIME,” Trump wrote. “As your next Congressman, [Cunningham] will work tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Unleash American Energy DOMINANCE, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”
In a statement, Cunningham said he was “deeply honored” to win the president’s endorsement.
“I got into this race because the people of our district deserve a representative who actually understands what’s at stake on our border, in our communities, and for our families,” he wrote. “I will never stop fighting for them.”
Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives — including Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain — also endorsed Cunningham this week.
Busy week for Deb Haaland’s campaignDeb Haaland, the former U.S. Interior secretary who’s seeking the Democratic nomination to be New Mexico’s next governor, reported massive fundraising results this week.
Her nearly 13,000-page campaign finance report shows her gubernatorial campaign raised more than $4.1 million in the last six months — much more than her opponent’s $1.2 million. Those campaign documents also show that she has a nearly five-to-one advantage over Democratic challenger Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman in terms of cash on hand.
Haaland also released her first campaign ad this week. The 30-second spot mentions her journey from being a “single mom who struggled to afford groceries and rent” to a “leader who took on Trump to protect our health care — and won.”
Bregman believes he’s the ‘tough person’ needed to govern NMSource NM sat down with Bregman this week for an in-depth discussion about his Democratic campaign for governor. Although major polls give Haaland a double-digit lead over Bregman in the upcoming primary election, he told Source he believes he’s the right choice for the job.
Read the discussion here.
NM Libertarian Party says lack of GOP candidates could provide a welcome boostThe Libertarian Party of New Mexico this week revealed its official slate of candidates. Among them are Jason Vaillancourt, a candidate for state auditor, and Rhett Trapman, running for U.S. Senate. Republicans failed to get candidates on the ballot in both races, though the party is mounting write-in campaigns for them.
Libertarian Party Chair Chris Luchini told Source NM he believes that if Vaillancourt and Trapman receive enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, most Republicans will vote for them instead of a Democrat come Election Day.
“If we run a candidate in a two-way race against the Democrat, say, 75% to 80% of Republicans will vote for any name on the ballot that isn’t the Democrat,” he said. “Politics, unfortunately, seems to be more driven by hate than love.”
As a result, Luchini said the Libertarian Party is poised to greatly expand its voter base and visibility, not to mention potentially even win one of the races. Moreover, the noticeable lack of Republicans on the ballot will enable the Libertarian Party to return to major party status, he said.
The party first gained major party status in 2018 and lost it following the 2024 election. State law requires minor parties to receive on Election Day at least 5% of the votes cast in the previous presidential or gubernatorial election to achieve major party status. This year, that equates to a little more than 46,000 votes.
The Libertarians must also have at least one-third of 1% of the state’s registered voters to become a major party. According to the latest figures from the Secretary of State’s Office, 2% of voters are registered with parties other than the major Democratic or Republican parties, though the data does not specify how many are Libertarians.
Luchini said Libertarians receiving 5% of the vote is certainly possible, especially since they seem likely to grab so many votes from Republicans this year.
“I’m not here to give advice to the other parties about maintaining their house,” he said. “But the Republicans’ results speak for themselves.”
The race for a vacant seatTwo political newcomers competing for the Democratic nomination to replace a retiring Las Cruces state representative are rapidly racking up endorsements.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) endorsed nonprofit director Lori Martinez, who is seeking to fill the Legislature’s District 37 seat after longtime Rep. Joanne Ferrary announced she would not seek reelection. Ferrari previously endorsed Martinez and is her campaign’s biggest donor, recently filed campaign finance reports show.
Her opponent, attorney Matilda “Tilli” Villalobos, is boasting plenty of endorsements of her own. The Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 16 endorsed her and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s Forward Party, which recently submitted paperwork to officially become a minor party in New Mexico, is also supporting her campaign.
In an unconventional move, Planned Parenthood Votes New Mexico endorsed both Martinez and Villalobos. The organization did not immediately respond to Source NM’s requests for comment.
The two candidates are virtually neck and neck when it comes to money, campaign finance reports show. In total, Martinez raised nearly $24,000 since October and has $19,000 remaining. Villalobos reported raising just more than $27,000 and has $21,000 left.
U.S. Senate candidate arrested at Alamogordo protestMatt Dodson, a Democratic Socialist challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) in the June 2 primary, spent two nights in jail last week after he was arrested at a protest near Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo.
Court records show authorities “warned [him] not to be in the roadway” during the demonstration and allege Dodson did not heed those warnings.
The protest, called Shut Down Drone Warfare, was organized by a coalition of organizations including CODEPINK: Women for Peace, Veterans for Peace, Ban Killer Drones and People’s Arms. Holloman Air Force Base is one of the largest drone training bases in the nation. The protest’s goal was to “peacefully interrupt business as usual” and protest the use of drones by the U.S. in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and Venezuela.
In a call with Source NM, Dodson said the law he broke was “equivalent to a parking ticket” while he was passing out fliers and said he “should have never been arrested.”
“However, what I experienced every step of the way is exactly what everyone running for office and every incumbent in office needs to experience,” Dodson said. “Because our entire jail system just needs to reform from top to bottom.”
Dodson got out of jail April 10 after two nights inside. A bench trial is scheduled for May 11.
NM Supreme Court schedules oral arguments in state Rep. Dow candidacy caseThe New Mexico Supreme Court on Friday scheduled oral arguments for April 21 in the election case involving state Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Elephant Butte). A state district court judge last week ruled to remove Dow from the ballot for New Mexico House District 38 after Democrat Tara Jaramillo, who previously held Dow’s seat, argued that Dow had inappropriately filed screenshots of her nominating petitions rather than the forms themselves. The Secretary of State’s office this week asked the court to uphold that ruling. In her appeal, Dow contended that the issue at hand is “at worst a formatting mistake.”
In his written request earlier this week for oral arguments, Dow’s lawyer Carter Harrison notes that Dow maintains “that it was not even a formatting mistake” because “the ‘filing’ of online nominating petitions with the proper filing officer is done, well, online, making it irrelevant what format she printed the petitions in, or if she printed them out at all.”
Harrison goes on to write that the court should be aware that the “case is enormously consequential: in addition to disenfranchising the voters of District 38, who have consistently electorally supported Rep. Dow for the better part of a decade and who did so again this cycle, the District Court’s decision ousts the House minority party of its caucus chairwoman, and may (depending upon electoral outcomes in a handful of other races) give the majority party the two-thirds supermajority in the chamber that it needs to override gubernatorial vetoes.”
While the outcome for Dow remains pending, ballots for overseas and military voters can’t wait according to the Secretary of State’s office. In response to a query from Source NM, SOS Director of Communications, Legislative and Executive Affairs Lindsey Bachman confirmed that, “Given the requirements of state and federal laws, and also considering that there has not been a stay issued pending the appeal of the Dow case,” the ballots must be mailed on April 18 and will not include Dow’s name as a candidate for State House District 38.
The Secretary of State’s Wednesday response to Dow’s appeal noted the pending overseas deadline, as well as the office’s requirement to submit a report to the U.S. Department of Justice by April 20 certifying that military and overseas ballots were properly sent. According to the filing, the issue impacts 90 voters registered in Doña Ana, Socorro and Sierra counties.
Neither Dow nor Harrison responded immediately to Source’s request for comment on Friday.
