WASHINGTON _ Both parties chose their candidates Tuesday in what could be a competitive race for New Mexico's 2nd District. Democrats see the open seat, vacated by GOP Rep. Steve Pearce to run for governor, as a potential pickup opportunity.
Attorney Xochitl Torres Small won the Democratic nod, and state Rep. Yvette Herrell is the Republicans' pick.
Torres Small won 74 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race with 41 percent of precincts reporting. She defeated Coast Guard veteran Madeline Hildebrandt, who had won 26 percent of the vote when the AP called the primary for Torres Small.
On the Republican side, Herrell led a four-way field with 49 percent of the vote with 67 percent of precincts reporting, according to the AP. She was endorsed by the conservative House Freedom Caucus and two of the group's co-founders, GOP Reps. Mark Meadows of South Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio. VIEW PAC, which works to elect Republican women, also endorsed Herrell in the race.
Even though President Donald Trump carried it by 10 points in 2016, shifting demographics and lack of an incumbent could help Democrats flip the district, which sits on the southern border. Roughly 55 percent of the district's population is Hispanic.
Torres Small was added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program for promising challengers, and was backed by EMILY's List. She had $156,000 on hand at the end of the reporting period.
