Yvette Herrell is back

Gabe Vasquez has been in favor of defunding the police and legal human trafficking with extreme abortion laws

A new chapter has begun for Yvette Herrell. The announcement took place on April 10th, 2023 at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.

Yvette Herrell decided to go to Las Cruces and announce her intentions to regain her old seat. This will be Herrell’s fourth race, losing in 2018 but winning in 2020. However, she lost her reelection bid last November to Democrat Gabe Vasquez

Herrell, a Republican lawmaker who represented NM's 2nd Congressional district from 2021-2023, also took to the stage and targeted current Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez for his support of abortion rights. She also addressed a vote he took on a crime bill and his stance toward American energy development.

"America needs us to stand up, stand strong and be courageous. This is our Nehemiah moment. We can start making America great again, and let's try to make New Mexico great for the first time." said Yvette Herrell in front of a roaring crowd who packed every seat available and also had people standing in every square foot available inside that building. Many people had to stay outside and couldn't attend the event due to the massive response from the Doña Ana County. The crowd included people that work for the current administration, like office clerks and law enforcement personnel, to your average neighbors and friends.

Over the past few decades, New Mexico has been a heavily contested state that has switched power between the two major political parties. In recent waves of questionable results, they have become more progressive.

Gabe Vasquez defeated Herrell by a short margin. The vote was split 50-50 but Vasquez appeared to have a slight lead. The official numbers showed him with 1,000 more votes than Herrell. Gabe Vasquez surprisingly won the race but there were multiple anomalies reported by the community. Vasquez took a huge hit in the middle of the campaign when a few things came out.

One of them was a report conducted by The Washington Free Beacon. The investigation was focused on "James Hall, a Las Cruces resident." His facial features resembled then-city council member Gabe Vasquez. His camp denied it was him and the TV network later apologized, in a clear attempt to bury the case and help his cause. The images are from the same TV network and his own social media by the way. Let me let you be the judge after looking at the pictures, which are real physical evidence.

An attendee at a Black Lives Matter protest in Las Cruces, N.M., expressed his desire to defund police during an interview with a local reporter in June 2020. "We need serious police reform in this country," the man said while also chanting "no justice, no peace." "It's not just about defunding police, it's about defunding a system that privileges white people over everyone else." The person identified himself as "James Hall." The local network, KVIA, said the station could not provide extended raw footage of the 2020 interview with Vasquez. In June 2020, Vasquez also called to "deconstruct and rebuild the systems of oppression that keep black people in perpetual harm," which he said included "law enforcement" and "the economy." Just days earlier, Vasquez had said, "As long as white folks … dominate this nation's wealth and preside over our nation's governing bodies & judicial systems, the racism, killing, & injustice will continue."

When Vasquez served on the Las Cruces City Council, he also expressed interest in lowering police budgets. However, his statement was much restrained than his protest interview.

"If we do have to take budget away from specific department[s], whether it be police or otherwise—I don't think we have to, because we have a budget that I think can support that currently," Vasquez said in a September 2020 interview. "But we also have to look at where the inefficiencies are, where the redundancies are, where we would not rather respond with force or with police. And, you know, if we don't need those positions anymore … then we need to get rid of them, and that's a decision I'm happy to try to champion at the city council." Vasquez's campaign site now says that "police reform, not police defunding, is the right way to move forward."

Some people indicated they didn't live in New Mexico but appeared on voter registration lists in that state even though they didn't live there. There have been reports of similar incidents across the country. Other members of their community reported that they didn't receive their mailed votes by the deadline despite mailing them in plenty of time. This is also consistent with reports during the last Biden-Trump elections, when several independent logistics operators claimed they saw "mounts and mounts of mail being held on the side of the postal offices in NM," according to someone who wished to remain anonymous for fear of "retaliation" against his small business. These misplaced mail could easily have been mailed votes, hypothetically speaking.

Kevin McCarthy was also there to support Herrell. The current Speaker of the House took some time out of his already hectic schedule to visit the quaint and mostly peaceful town of Las Cruces. “Four years ago, when I became Republican leader in the House, we set our goals,” McCarthy said. “Stop Biden’s agenda, fire Nancy Pelosi, and win the majority back. We achieved all three of those. But we fell a little short, 1,350 votes,” McCarthy said in reference to Vasquez’s narrow victory over Herrell in the 2022 election. McCarthy then talked about how each election cycle, he liked to select critical Congressional candidacy announcements. “And every time I’ve done that, that person has won,” he added. “So, you cannot let me down. This is the first announcement I’ve been to for the next election cycle.”

In order for Yvette Herrell's seat to be re-assigned, she needs to mobilize enough conservatives to vote. Considering how contested the state is, the problem is that people are not voting. Not only in New Mexico but nationwide, the new influx of voters comes primarily from urban areas, which are predominantly progressive.

By skipping a vote, we give someone else the right to make decisions for us. In order to improve our community, we must educate our minds about it. This is so we can identify and improve flaws within our communities and improve everything around us, for the benefit of our families and neighbors.

During her term in Congress, Herrell became the first Native Republican woman elected to Congress, and the third Native woman in U.S. history. Despite the challenges she faces every day, she continues to advocate for the New Mexican community in many different ways.