New Mexico

Multiple outlets reporting NM Second Congressional District re-elects Gabe Vasquez

Published

2 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Multiple outlets reporting NM Second Congressional District re-elects Gabe Vasquez

Editor’s note: The votes reported here are based on overall vote counts reported to the New Mexico Secretary of State and are considered unofficial. To see other unofficial election results visit https://electionresults.sos.nm.gov.

Gabe Vasquez is returning to Congress.

Multiple media outlets reported late Tuesday that Vasquez had defeated Alamogordo Republican Yvette Herrell.

Just after midnight, the Associated Press, Fox News and USA Today were among the outlets awarding the 2nd Congressional District race to Vasquez, who also defeated Herrell in 2022 by 1,350 votes.

“The difference for me in this race was how much more knowledgeable I am about the issues impacting our district,” Vasquez told the Sun-News. “I haven’t thought too much about what the former Congresswoman and her platform is all about. I thought about governing from Day 1 and governing until I’m here. Regardless of the results of the election, I want to be proud of the work I’ve done, but I feel that the work I have done has given voters confidence to send me back to Congress.”

Around 10:30 p.m. on Election Night, the Vasquez campaign ended its watch party at a downtown Las Cruces bar when the race was tied on the New Mexico Secretary of State website with Vasquez holding a 41 vote lead.

Over an hour later, Vasquez had secured 52% of the 260,262 votes in the race according to unofficial results on the New Mexico Secretary of State website. There were 192,673 total votes in the 2022 General Election.

Vasquez secured 57% of the 82,460 votes in Doña Ana County just after midnight on Wednesday.

The district encompasses southern New Mexico which, after redistricting, now represents a swath extending from the southwest up to part of Bernalillo County, including Albuquerque’s South Valley.

The race for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District was identified a a potential swing district, even drawing U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to stump for Herrell in Las Cruces during the summer, as well as a visit to Albuquerque last week by former President Donald Trump.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also made a stop in Albuquerque in October.

The seat has flipped parties three times in the past six years. Herrell lost by two percentage points to Democrat Xochitl Torres Small in 2018, but won a rematch two years later, securing 54% of the 264,946 votes.

Herrell attacked Vasquez on immigration and the border, but also campaigned on the economy, an increased cost of living and crime.

Vasquez recently introduced a bipartisan Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act, which would provide increased funding, technology and staffing for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He has also introduced a package of immigration and border bills, which he announced in November 2023.

The Las Cruces Sun-News is providing this content free of charge as part of our commitment to inform and empower Doña Ana County voters. Please consider supporting local journalism through a subscription.

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New Mexico

Live updates: Election 2024 in New Mexico coverage and results

Published

14 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Press Room

Live updates: Election 2024 in New Mexico coverage and results

Update: Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.

As of the latest update from the New Mexico Office of the Secretary of State, at 1 p.m., 793,497 ballots have been cast in our state. Here is a breakdown by party:

Democrat: 362,481
Republican: 287,687
Declined to state a party: 132,318
Libertarian: 6,998
Other: 4,013

According to the secretary of state’s office, there were 1,382,761 registered voters. Turnout as of 1 p.m. has been around 57.38%.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday in New Mexico as Election Day is here for the 2024 general election.

663,874 people cast a ballot ahead of Election Day, which is down from 2020 when 785,789 people cast ballot before Election Day.

If you haven’t cast your vote, make sure you get in line before 7 p.m. Although polls close at 7 p.m., they will not turn you away if you are in line by that time.

If you have a mail-in ballot, it is too late to put that in the mailbox. However, you can drop that off at a polling site. You can also drop off an absentee ballot at a polling site.

We will be providing updates on this page as results start coming in for races here in New Mexico, including these key races:

Four state constitutional amendments are also on the ballot. Two amendments are about tax exemptions for military veterans. One amendment concerns if county commissioners should be allowed to set their own salaries and the salaries of other county officials. The other amendment concerns a possible change to the commission in charge of finding new state Supreme Court justices.

For results on each race and ballot measure in New Mexico, click/tap here for all election results.

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New Mexico

Cannabis company vows to sue after New Mexico destroys tens of thousands of pounds of its marijuana crop

Published

1 day ago

November 5, 2024

Press Room

Cannabis company vows to sue after New Mexico destroys tens of thousands of pounds of its marijuana crop

State police have destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana plants at greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico, marking what regulators say is the largest seizure and destruction of cannabis in New Mexico since new possession and cultivation laws took effect in 2021.

Authorities announced the operation Monday, saying dozens of agents were assigned to eradicate the plants in October. The state Cannabis Control Division had started the process of revoking the license of NNK Equity LLC, having filed a noncompliance order and a default order earlier this year.

The company was accused of not posting its licenses on site, failing to obtain water rights for cultivation, not having cameras that could monitor certain areas of its operation and violating sanitation and health requirements.

“The organization involved showed a blatant disregard for the laws of this state and we will prove that once this investigation is over,” New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a statement.

Jacob Candelaria, an Albuquerque attorney who represents NNK Equity, disputed the state’s claims and accused regulators and state police of violating his client’s civil rights. He said the state failed to properly serve notice of its intent to revoke the company’s license and subsequently denied a request for a hearing on the merits of the case.

He said clients Irving Lin and Bao Xue speak Mandarin Chinese and have limited ability to understand the written English language. Lin asked for a Chinese translation, but the attorney said regulators did not respond to his request.

The Cannabis Control Division stated in filings related to the case that it complied with notice and hearing requirements and had afforded the company its due process rights.

The company plans to ask a state district judge to set aside the order revoking the license and to order state regulators to hold a hearing, Candelaria said. He added that NNK Equity also plans to sue the state for destroying what he said amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars of private property.

“The idea that law enforcement officers can destroy public property based upon a temporary restraining order — which can be entered without notice to all parties and before a hearing on the evidence — which was the case here, should concern all of us who believe in the Constitution.”

According to state regulators, NNK Equity was issued a license in December 2023 for a marijuana growing operation at a property in Waterflow, a rural area on the edge of the Navajo Nation and just south of the Colorado border. The region also made headlines earlier this year when state regulators cracked down on two other operations and Navajo Nation authorities ended up filing their own charges against two tribal members.

In the latest case, the Cannabis Control Division conducted a compliance check in June and determined that NNK Equity had exceeded its allotted plant count. The New Mexico State Police Special Investigations Unit was brought in and later found plants at a second location that was not licensed.

The violations outlined by state regulators also involve transportation and tracking requirements, which include assigning identifying numbers to each plant.

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