US House Speaker Johnson stumps for GOP congressional hopeful Cunningham in Albuquerque

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday told a group of reporters gathered in the back room of Albuquerque’s Rio Bravo Brewing Company that he started his day with a phone call to President Donald Trump, who agreed that Republican congressional challenger Greg Cunningham is “straight out of central casting.”

Johnson visited New Mexico to stump for Cunningham, a retired Marine and Albuquerque detective who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) for the state’s southernmost congressional district.

Vasquez first won the seat to the 2nd Congressional District in 2022, when he ousted Republican Yvette Herrell by less than one percentage point. Although he won re-election in 2024, Trump defeated Kamala Harris in that district the same year. The race for the seat this year is considered among the most contested in the state. It’s become a key race nationally, as well — conservative and progressive organizers have identified it as a “must-flip” and “must-hold” seat, respectively, as Republicans hold a narrow 218-212 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Johnson said he believes Cunningham is “overqualified” to flip CD2 back to Republican control for the first time in four years.

“We’re gonna flip a number of seats from California to New York,” Johnson said. “They will become red on election night. The reason is very simple — we fulfilled our promises, we’ve done what we said we were going to do…Ronald Reagan used to remind us that you can trust the American people. When they have the facts, they’ll make the right decision.”

He said the upcoming Nov. 3 general election offers New Mexicans a “contrast between common sense and crazy,” arguing that Vasquez has voted against Republican-backed economic and immigration policies and represents a Democratic Party of “woke, kind of DEI nonsense.”

Johnson referenced the latest data from the Cook Political Report, which rates New Mexico’s Congressional District 2 as “leans Democrat,” as evidence of how close the race is.

Cunningham, for his part, delivered brief remarks and did not take questions from the media.

Protesters set up outside the Albuquerque brewery and their cries of, “Hey hey, ho ho, MAGA Mike has got to go” were audible from inside as Cunningham and Johnson spoke.

“I raised six children and have nine grandchildren, so I’m actually used to speaking over stuff like this,” Cunningham said while standing alongside Eddy County Sheriff Matthew Hutchinson and members of the state Fraternal Order of Police. “I’m not a politician that is telling police officers and detectives that I like them or I’m listening to them. I am one of them.”

Outside, protesters from around Albuquerque decried the pair for their support of Trump, who earlier this year endorsed Cunningham.

Lisa Christopherson, the executive director of NM Stronger Together Coalition, held up a sign that read, “Jesus was a brown immigrant. Matt 2:13-15,” a reference to a Biblical passage that describes God telling Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt shortly after his birth.

Behind her, a sign that read, “pedo protectors not welcome” hung off a chain-link fence.

“Trump and his friend Epstein have not been held accountable,” she said, adding that she believes Johnson has failed to provide any meaningful check on the president’s power in his role as speaker of the U.S. House. “Mike should work for the American people and not the pedo-in-chief.” 

Earlier this year, Cunningham’s campaign narrowly raised more money than Vasquez’s, according to campaign finance filings. However, Vasquez has maintained a significant cash-on-hand advantage. 

In a statement Wednesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee attacked Cunningham’s alliance with Trump.

“You are the company you keep. Greg Cunningham has made Donald Trump and Mike Johnson’s extreme Washington agenda his ‘number one priority,’ so it’s no surprise he’s rolling out the red carpet for the architect of Republicans’ Medicaid cuts, reckless tariffs, and costly war in Iran,” DCCC spokesperson Anna Elsasser said.