Incumbent U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and Republican challenger Greg Cunningham participated in a debate on Oct. 16, 2026, moderated by KRQE anchor Dean Staley. The candidates, vying to represent New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, discussed a range of issues including immigration, border policy, and economic policies.
Vasquez, who first won election to the seat in 2022, characterized Cunningham as a MAGA devotee, while Cunningham repeatedly characterized Vasquez as an ineffectual member of Congress. The debate focused on border policy and controversial tactics employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Vasquez lamented seeing footage of “Americans getting killed at the hands of ICE,” referring to this year’s killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Cunningham blamed liberal policies in sanctuary cities for infringing on ICE agents’ abilities to do their jobs.
The contested race for the district, which includes much of southern New Mexico and stretches to the north to include a small portion of Albuquerque, is considered one of the most closely contested Congressional races in the nation. Vasquez unseated his Republican predecessor, Yvette Herrell, in 2022 by less than one percentage point. Trump endorsed Cunningham’s bid to flip the district red and U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has visited New Mexico twice to stump for him.
Throughout the debate, Vasquez promised to fight the “disastrous economic policies of the Trump administration.” In response, Cunningham asked what Vasquez has done in his current term to combat the president’s agenda. “You’re our Congressman. We sent you there to solve these problems,” Cunningham said, adding that Vasquez was acting “like it’s all somebody else’s fault.”
The two candidates discussed a number of other issues, ranging from immigration and affordability to the war in Iran and artificial intelligence. The discussion around immigration and the Trump administration’s emphasis on ICE raids provoked the sharpest disagreement between Vasquez and Cunningham.
When Vasquez expressed a desire to reform the path to citizenship, Cunningham said it was the “one thing that I do agree with you on.” Beyond that, though, the two clashed as Staley asked both candidates where the nation’s immigration policies can improve and whether they agree with Trump’s decision not to apologize when ICE agents have killed American citizens.
Cunningham said that broadly, he looks at law enforcement agencies such as ICE and sees “men and women, our brothers and sisters and family members that got into law enforcement to do the right thing and are risking their lives every day.” Vasquez pushed back, alluding not only to the killings of Good and Pretti but to recent controversial ICE arrests in New Mexico.
“I see American citizens getting killed at the hands of ICE. I see our own Native American citizens with tribal IDs being detained right here in New Mexico,” Vasquez said. “The policy of this administration is cruel. It is separating families, it is orphaning children all across our country and it’s targeting people that look like me and you, Greg.”
