To: Interested Parties
From: Anna Elsasser, Regional Press Secretary
Date: June 2, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Greg Cunningham
This race presents a clear choice to New Mexicans between Gabe Vasquez, a bipartisan problem-solver with a record of fighting for New Mexico, and Greg Cunningham, an untrustworthy, twice-failed politician who is more focused on serving his party bosses than the voters of New Mexico’s Second Congressional District.Gabe Vasquez is a first-generation American whose story reflects the promise of New Mexico. Raised by a single mother in rural borderlands who taught him the power of the American Dream, Vasquez worked his way through school, built a small business, and served his community before being elected to Congress.
In just two terms in Congress, Gabe has already earned a reputation as a bipartisan leader focused on lowering costs, strengthening border security, supporting law enforcement, protecting public lands, and expanding access to affordable health care. Whether it’s fighting greedy corporate landlords from driving up housing prices, opposing cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, or working across party lines to combat cartels and human trafficking, Gabe has consistently put New Mexico first at every turn.
Meanwhile, Greg Cunningham has made clear he would be another reliable vote for an extreme Republican agenda in Washington that’s hurting working families. Handpicked by unpopular loser Yvette Herrell and backed by far-right extremists in D.C., Cunningham has embraced a reckless Republican agenda and a brand of extremism that is raising costs, ripping away health care access, and undermining New Mexican values.
Gabe’s undeniable record of putting New Mexico first and his solutions-oriented approach to tackling voters’ everyday concerns are why he has twice defied national trends to win this competitive seat. Last cycle, he was one of just 13 House Democrats to win a district that went for President Trump. Heading into November facing yet another extremist, Gabe has built both the record and the resources needed to win once again.
Greg Cunningham Would Be a Rubber Stamp Putting Extremists in His Party Over New Mexico
Greg Cunningham has repeatedly admitted that advancing the president’s agenda is his “number one priority.” Not lowering costs, not fighting for New Mexicans, just delivering for his party bosses. He celebrated endorsements from Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, Yvette Herrell, and Republican leadership, making clear that his role in Congress would be to help push their failed agenda across the finish line. Cunningham has doubled down on this agenda – praising cost-raising policies as “great policies for America” despite the fact they are gutting the programs that families rely on in order for Republicans to give more tax breaks to billionaires and their wealthy campaign donors. Voters have rejected this extremism before, and Cunningham is offering more of the same, proving he can never be trusted to prioritize New Mexicans over D.C. bosses.
Meanwhile, Gabe has built a reputation as a leader who will both stand up to and work with anyone to get the job done for New Mexicans. As one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, he has worked across the aisle to strengthen border security, support law enforcement, combat organized crime, and protect New Mexico’s public lands. And when House Republicans pushed plans to sell off protected public lands, Gabe established the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus and led the effort to stop them – protecting millions of acres central to New Mexico’s economy and way of life.
While Cunningham’s “number one priority” is to serve his party, Gabe’s priority is fighting for New Mexico.
Cunningham-Backed Agenda Is Ripping Money Right Out of New Mexicans’ Pockets
Republicans’ extreme, Cunningham-backed agenda is already hitting New Mexico families and their wallets from every angle, from their health care, to their kitchen tables, to the gas pump.
The GOP’s historic Medicaid cuts threaten health care coverage for more than 38,000 people in NM-02, especially in rural communities where rural hospitals and clinics are already stretched thin. New Mexico is home to the highest rate of SNAP recipients in the country, and Republican SNAP cuts will hurt 60,000 NM-02 households of working families, seniors, and children struggling with rising grocery prices. Reckless tariffs are also raising costs on everyday goods and creating chaotic uncertainty for New Mexico farmers, ranchers, and small businesses already operating on razor-thin margins. New Mexicans cannot afford Cunningham’s rubber-stamp support for policies that are making their lives harder and more expensive.
Affordability is personal for Gabe because he has lived the same economic pressures many New Mexico families are facing. As the son of a working mom, he has been one of the loudest voices in Congress fighting to lower costs. Gabe has stood up for farmers and ranchers, warned Republican health care cuts would devastate rural communities, and repeatedly opposed Cunningham-backed efforts to gut Medicaid and SNAP in order to finance tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations.
Gabe is also leading efforts to lower costs by confronting corporate landlords, pushing permanent tax relief for tipped workers, and demanding action to address rising gas prices.
Cunningham’s Extreme Positions Are Out of Step With New Mexico
In a district where voters have repeatedly rejected candidates pushing abortion bans and divisive culture-war politics, Cunningham has aligned himself with some of the most extreme political voices in New Mexico.
He signed a pledge for an extremist anti-abortion organization whose founders promoted dangerous conspiracy theories declaring he is “committed to ending all abortion.” Cunningham is also a member of a megachurch that was exposed as associated with far-right anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ positions. He even credited his pastor, who vowed to go to jail before recognizing LGBTQ marriage, for his entry to politics.
As if his own record hasn’t already disqualified him with voters, Cunningham has also embraced the endorsement of Yvette Herrell and acknowledged she recruited him into the race – tying him directly to her record of supporting abortion bans with no exceptions, opposing insulin price caps, attacking the Affordable Care Act, and backing cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
New Mexicans rejected Yvette Herrell’s extreme agenda twice. Greg Cunningham represents a third attempt at the same failed politics.
Cunningham is Surrounded By Serious Ethical and Credibility Questions
Immediately after his launch, Greg Cunningham faced serious questions about his honesty, transparency, and financial dealings – quickly making it clear to voters that they can’t trust him to represent New Mexico families in Congress.
Shortly after entering the race, reporting exposed Cunningham’s use of a VA home loan program on his Arizona property. According to the reporting, Cunningham “used a program enabling New Mexico disabled veterans to pay no property taxes on his Westside Albuquerque home while also purchasing a home out of state as his primary residence.” Engaging in this shady business while he was running for office in New Mexico has raised broader questions and concerns about Cunningham’s residency and whether he improperly accessed benefits intended to help veterans purchase their homes.
At minimum, the reporting raises serious concerns about Cunningham’s credibility and judgment. At worst, it suggests Cunningham believed the rules did not apply to him while benefiting from programs meant to support veterans and working families purchasing primary residences at a lower cost.
For voters already frustrated with self-serving politicians trying to cheat the system for their own gain, Cunningham’s ethical baggage shows he is more focused on himself and his multiple homes than delivering for New Mexico families. Gabe has led the charge for transparency in Washington, cosponsoring bills to ban public officials from insider trading for personal gain, crack down on corruption, and has called on agencies to close loopholes that betray the public’s trust.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
The Advocate: Trump-backed House candidate tied to New Mexico church with extreme anti-women & anti-LGBTQ+ views [The Advocate, 5/4/26]
“Greg Cunningham, backed by former President Donald Trump, has cast his campaign in explicitly ideological terms. Cunningham has called advancing the national Republican agenda his “number one priority” and has repeatedly framed his candidacy as rooted in faith, crediting his pastor with helping him enter politics.
That pastor…leads Legacy Church, an Albuquerque-based megachurch whose official doctrine and public messaging reject LGBTQ+ identity and abortion rights.
Cunningham’s own record aligns with that activism. In 2022, he signed a pledge from Abortion Free New Mexico committing to ‘ending all abortion’…The group has compared abortion to the Holocaust and promoted conspiracy theories associated with QAnon.”
New Mexico Political Report: Congressional candidate’s purchase of Arizona home raises questions about New Mexico residency [New Mexico Political Report, 10/3/25]
“A new Republican congressional candidate used a program enabling New Mexico disabled veterans to pay no property taxes on his Westside Albuquerque home while also purchasing a home out of state as his primary residence.”
Gregory Cunningham, who this week filed…to run for his party’s nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM-02) next year, is a disabled U.S. Marine veteran, who says his Westside Albuquerque home is, and always has been, his primary residence, despite paperwork that shows the same designation applied to an Arizona property he purchased in 2024.”
Source NM: ‘A huge victory’: Vasquez touts nixing of public lands sell-off in Congressional bill [Source New Mexico, 5/23/25]
“Rep. Gabe Vasquez…who co-founded the Bipartisan Public Lands Caucus earlier this year, said the removal of that provision represents a ‘huge victory’ for all Americans concerned about public lands being sold to the highest bidder…‘We’ve worked together across the aisle to prevent this unprecedented public lands sell-off.’”
New Mexico Political Report: New Mexico sees largest gas price jump in Southwest prompting lawmaker demand for federal response [New Mexico Political Report, 3/25/26]
“‘Families in my district are paying more at the pump than almost anywhere else in the country — over a dollar more per gallon in just one month,’ Vasquez said. ‘Ranchers are seeing their operating costs climb, small businesses are getting squeezed, and hardworking New Mexicans are being forced to stretch every dollar just to keep up.’”
Source NM: NM US Rep. Vasquez sponsors legislation targeting organized crime in border communities [Source New Mexico, 7/21/25]
New Mexico Political Report: Rep. Vasquez cosponsors bill to reverse GOP health care cuts [New Mexico Political Report, 9/15/25]
“‘For many folks in New Mexico, reversing these Republican cuts to health care coverage is literally a matter of life or death,’ Vasquez said… ‘For seniors in Socorro, farmworkers in Deming, and families in Hobbs, losing access to health care coverage means going without life-saving medicine, critical checkups or treatment when it matters most.’
Vasquez said he introduced the bill after hearing concerns from constituents, doctors and providers across southern New Mexico.”
Source NM: Vasquez warns Republican SNAP cuts will hit rural areas hardest [Source New Mexico, 9/3/25]
“‘Farmers and ranchers and rural food producers are the ones who stand to lose the most from these Republican cuts to food assistance,’ said Vasquez…SNAP cuts will hit hardest in non-urban areas, which have higher poverty rates, fewer food retailers and less employment opportunities.
New Mexico also has the highest rate of SNAP recipients in the country, which Vasquez said puts a ‘huge bull’s eye on the state of New Mexico’ when it comes to these cuts. Vasquez said the reductions in SNAP benefits to families and individuals will mean the closure of rural grocery stores.”
PATH TO VICTORY
New Mexico’s Second Congressional District is one of the most competitive districts in the country: majority Hispanic, increasingly diverse, and deeply skeptical of political extremism. Voters here have proven they want candidates focused on practical solutions over partisan chaos.
Gabe Vasquez has already proven he can build the coalition needed to win and overperform in a swing district in the toughest political environments. He won reelection by 4.2 points in a district Donald Trump carried by nearly 2 points, becoming the first Democrat in NM-02 to win reelection since the 1970s. He overperformed the top of the ticket by holding ground with Latino voters and expanding his vote share with White voters.
Now in an environment where voters are souring on the extreme Republican agenda, Republicans are once again nominating a candidate defined by blind loyalty to the extremes of his party, and a shameless willingness to put Washington politics ahead of New Mexico families. Gabe has the cash advantage, holding over $1.9 million on hand compared to Cunningham’s $323,000. Vasquez also raised nearly four times what Cunningham did in Q1 of this year.
This November, New Mexico voters will have a stark choice: a bipartisan leader in Gabe Vasquez fighting to lower costs and defend New Mexico values – or Greg Cunningham, another rubber stamp for an extreme agenda New Mexicans have already rejected. |
