Former Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM-02) has officially endorsed Greg Cunningham to be the Republican nominee in the race for the congressional district she previously represented.
Cunningham, who earlier this month launched his bid for the seat now held by U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM-02), went public with Herrell’s support Monday with a statement from his campaign.
“Greg Cunningham is a decorated Marine Corps combat veteran who put his life on the line for our country and then served New Mexico on the streets of Albuquerque for over two decades as a police detective. He is a rock-solid conservative who supports President Trump’s agenda, and I am extremely proud to endorse him for Congress in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District,” she said in the statement.
Cunningham added in the same statement that he is honored to receive Herrell’s backing.
“I will strive to live up to the example set by Yvette and thank her for her endorsement and her ongoing service to our state and nation,” he said.
Herrell was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020. She was narrowly defeated by Vasquez in 2022 and made an unsuccessful attempt to unseat him two years later. She has since been nominated by President Donald Trump to be assistant secretary of the Office of Congressional Relations at the U.S Department of Agriculture and is awaiting Senate confirmation to the post.
Cunningham ran for the District 29 seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to state Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque). He is competing against radio show host Eddy Aragon for the Republican nomination to take on Vasquez in a race that the nonpartisan Cook Political Report has classified as one of a handful of toss-up contests that could determine which party controls Congress in 2027.
Recent reporting by NM Political Report showed that Cunningham had recently claimed a new home in Arizona as his “primary residence.” Cunningham told NMPR that he checked the “primary residence” box to obtain preferential mortgage terms from the Veterans Administration even though his New Mexico home remained his primary residence. President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to investigate political figures who made misrepresentations on mortgages backed by the federal government.