In this year’s election, New Mexico’s Second Congressional House District is one of the most closely watched in the nation - in 2024 the district voted for Donald Trump but elected Democrat Gabe Vasquez to Congress. Republicans eye it as a potential flip to stave off Democrats from taking control of the House.
New Mexico in Focus host Nash Jones spoke with both candidates for the 2nd Congressional District on NMPBS. Republican challenger Greg Cunningham is a former Marine and Albuquerque Police officer from the South Valley, and he said that work informs his positions on public safety.
GREG CUNNINGHAM: It goes back to my experience. It goes back to knowing what it actually takes to provide safety. [Law enforcement officers] have to know that you have their back. Gabe Vasquez, to this day, will say he wants to hold ICE agents accountable. When you tell me “I'm going to hold you accountable for doing your job,” what you're telling me and the way that's being interpreted is you're saying I'm doing something wrong. You're going to hold me accountable, and so you're putting me at financial risk. You're putting me at legal risk, just for doing my job.
NMPBS: You've said that you will stand with the president if elected. What do you say to voters who are unhappy with the president's performance about why they should elect a Trump ally to Congress?
CUNNINGHAM: Okay. Well, and again, the use of the word ally is...
NMPBS: Is that not fair?
CUNNINGHAM: At this point, it's not. No-
NMPBS: Tell me more.
CUNNINGHAM: -or even to say stand with somebody.
NMPBS: That was what you said in your address to the midterm convention.
CUNNINGHAM: Yes. And again, that doesn't mean all issues or everything. As a police officer, I raised my right hand as an oath to the citizens of New Mexico, and that's who my allegiance is to. And to say that just blindly that I'm going to stand with or ally with somebody is incorrect.
NMPBS: Is there a specific example of a place where you disagree with President Trump at the moment?
CUNNINGHAM: The one place I would like to see it goes back to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act [RECA]. We need to streamline the application process. We need to bump up the award amounts. We need to provide healthcare for those that were affected by those poisons that were put into our environment, into our bodies, and so that's the one place I would say that I stand apart, and that I stand for New Mexicans.
NMPBS: Thanks for giving that example. Affordability is probably one of the biggest issues this election cycle. What needs to happen to address the affordability crisis at this moment, and why isn't it already happening with this kind of unilateral Republican control?
CUNNINGHAM: I'm a retired police officer. I'm a working man. So it's important to say, “okay, things are a little expensive right now, we need to work on that.” Oil and gas, we have it right here, under our feet. Every product, on every shelf, in every store, got there using diesel fuel. And we have that capability right here in New Mexico to provide a long-term stable price and market for our people here in New Mexico. And so we need to acknowledge, and we need to grow. And again, my opponent Gabe Vasquez has done everything he can to hurt the oil and gas industry. For Democrats now to shut down refineries, to provide red tape, and handicap that industry, and then now jump up and down and say, "Oh my gosh, prices are high.” Well, no kidding.
NMPBS: Now, if elected, what would be the very first bill that you would introduce in Congress?
CUNNINGHAM: The national crime bill. I would like to look at sentencing guidelines for fentanyl. I don't think that fentanyl is being sentenced correctly. Our trend here in New Mexico. Our overdose deaths are rising, which is in direct contradiction to the rest of the country. And the people that are trafficking in that poison, in that death for our children and our family members, need to be held accountable and sentenced accordingly. Part of that bill, I'd like to create a program where retired police officers are put back in our middle and high schools. That greatly reduces the chance of a school shooting, but it also puts our police officers back in touch with young people in our community. It creates that bond going forward. And so, a revised version of the 1994 National Crime bill, which President Clinton championed, I think would be appropriate, and it's much needed.
