Second time’s the charm for New Mexico Republican Yvette Herrell.
The former state representative defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in a rematch election after losing the southern House district when the two faced off in 2018.
The Associated Press called the race at 2:13 a.m. EST Wednesday. Herrell had 54% of the vote to 46% for Torres Small, with 42%-52% of expected results in, according to Decision Desk HQ.
“Yvette will be a relentless fighter for New Mexico’s energy workers, farmers and families and I look forward to working with her for years to come,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer, a representative from Minnesota, said in a statement.
Torres Small joined Congress as part of 2018’s “blue wave,” when Democrats flipped enough Republican House seats in the midterm elections to take a majority in the chamber.
Torres Small won New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018 by just 3,722 votes, accounting for 1.8% over Herrell. Herrell originally seemed to have the advantage that night until absentee ballots were counted in the days after Election Day, pushing Torres Small over the edge.
Herrell used the incident in some early campaign messaging, running an ad that claimed that Democrats “took” the election away from her.
The seat was a prime target for Republicans in 2020. Not only was the district close in the last election, but President Trump won the district by a 10-point margin in 2016 and before 2018 was held by former Republican Rep. Steve Pearce for nearly two decades before he vacated the seat to run unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.
The large, rural district bordering Mexico in the southern part of the state spans from the Arizona to Texas state lines and experienced a boom in oil and natural gas production in recent years. That district’s economic connection to the fossil fuel industry prompted Torres Small to distance herself from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden after he said in a presidential debate that he wants to “transition from the oil industry.”
“I disagree with VP Biden’s statement tonight. Energy is part of the backbone of New Mexico’s economy. We need to work together to promote responsible energy production and stop climate change, not demonize a single industry,” Torres Small said in a tweet.
Herrell won the election despite lagging behind the Democratic incumbent in fundraising. As of Oct. 14, Herrell raised $2.4 million total in her campaign and had less than a quarter-million dollars in her war chest in the final weeks leading up to Election Day, while Torres Small raised $6.9 million and had over $1 million in cash on hand in the campaign’s final weeks.
