Buttigieg rallies for Haaland, Vasquez in Las Cruces

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told voters in Las Cruces Sunday that New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland and U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez understand the “kitchen table issues” facing New Mexicans under the Trump administration.

“If we want a better kitchen table, we have to do something about the political system kicking the legs out from under you, and we need leaders who can see that,” Buttigieg said at the rally of over 600 people gathered in the Centennial High School gymnasium. 

With just under two months before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Buttigieg voiced his support of Haaland and Vasquez, the incumbent Democratic candidate for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, at the Las Cruces school. Both Buttigieg and Haaland, a former Interior secretary, served in former President Joe Biden’s cabinet. Haaland faces Republican former Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, while Vasquez is running against Republican Gregory Cunningham, a former Albuquerque Police officer for the district that includes much of southern New Mexico.

Haaland “understood how to invest in communities that have been overlooked for too long, understood exactly what it means to put your money where your mouth is on protecting public lands,” Buttigieg said, “and who even though she served the entire country in the cabinet, I’ll tell you, always lived and breathed New Mexico.”

Buttigieg added that at the same time he was in the cabinet, Vasquez worked with him to bring federal funding into the state for road improvements and to replace aging natural gas pipes in Las Cruces. He described Vasquez as a “great member of Congress” for the people in southern New Mexico and Albuquerque’s South Valley and said Vasquez had him on “speed dial” to request transportation funding for the state. “He’s not there to notch up ideological victories for one team or another, he’s just there to get stuff done,” Buttigieg said. “And I wish I could say the same about the people who are running against Deb Haaland and Gabe Vasquez.”

Buttigieg criticized Vasquez’s opponent Cunningham for meeting with donors “behind closed doors” and only speaking for a limited time to voters during a political gathering two weeks ago in Albuquerque. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) spoke in support of Cunningham, a retired U.S. Marine and Albuquerque detective challenging Vasquez in the hotly contested CD2 race, at the event.

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

“We know what we’re up against as a country, but also, I see enormous reason to feel hopeful about the future we could build if we do the right thing,” Buttigieg said. 

Frank Chiki, a rally attendee, told Source NM that he values being an informed voter and attended the rally to hear from Haaland and Vasquez, as well as what Buttigieg had to say as a national figure.

“A lot of the things that he says sticks in people’s minds,” Chiki said. “If he’s here to say he’s for these two people, then people should really pay attention.”