In what had to be a sweet outcome, former Republican state Rep. Yvette Herrell — who claimed victory in her bid for Congress only to be counted out by absentee ballots — captured New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District Tuesday with 54% of the vote.
Herrell, a strong Christian and supporter of President Donald Trump, won a rematch with Democrat Rep. Xochitl Torres Small.
Throughout the campaign, Herrell emphasized her support of Trump and repeatedly linked Torres Small to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and to the Green New Deal that she said would flatten the local business community.
Torres Small countered that she did not support the Green New Deal and that she was a moderate who worked with Republicans on issues such as border security.
What may have been the incumbent’s undoing, however, was her vote in favor of impeaching Trump in a district that gave him a margin of 50% to 40% in 2016.
From 1980 to Torres Small’s election in 2018, the 2nd District has only had one Democrat congressman and that was for only two years, from 2008 to 2010.
The race this year was one of 56 rematches of 2018 opponents and one in which the National Republican Congressional Committee pumped in $5 million to elect Herrell.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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