The battleground 2nd Congressional District in southern New Mexico appears to be getting ready for a rematch between  incumbent Gabe Vasquez and former Rep. Yvette Herrell.

Vasquez, a Democrat, announced his re-election campaign Saturday during a tour around the district.

“I am running for re-election because New Mexico’s second congressional district deserves someone who puts politics aside and puts the people of New Mexico first,” Vasquez said in a news release “The bottom line is that we need an economy that works for New Mexico. That means bringing down the cost of living and creating more good-paying jobs— there’s a lot more work left to be done. We can’t afford far-right extremism that gridlocks Congress. We need a voice in Congress to defend our New Mexican values.”

Vasquez held events in Albuquerque’s South Valley, Socorro and ended in Mesilla.

Vasquez is currently serving his first term in Congress having won over then-incumbent Herrell, a Republican from Alamogordo, by a slim margin. 

Herrell announced her candidacy for the 2nd Congressional District in April at an event in Las Cruces.

That race was hard-fought by both candidates with a margin almost close enough to trigger a recall.

Vasquez won 50.32 percent of the vote to Herrell’s 49.68 percent.

Herrell and others have claimed that the redistricted maps for the district  were “gerrymandered” since they expanded the district’s coverage into Albuquerque’s South Valley, instead of keeping it strictly in the southern half of the state.

A three-day bench trial has been set for Sept. 27-29 in the redistricting case.