Republican congressional candidate Greg Cunningham used a national stage in Dallas Thursday to put New Mexico’s crime, border and fentanyl problems at the center of his campaign against Democrat U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, delivering a roughly four-minute address at the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention.
Cunningham, a retired Albuquerque police detective and Marine veteran challenging Vasquez in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, was the only New Mexico candidate listed on the convention’s announced speaking schedule. The official program placed him in the opening block Thursday at the American Airlines Center, alongside other congressional candidates and Republican officials.
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other high-profile Republicans headlined the two-day gathering, which the GOP organized in an effort to energize its voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
But Cunningham kept his speech almost entirely focused on New Mexico.
“Ever since my first ride-along, I knew I was born to be a police officer,” Cunningham told the crowd.
After serving in the Marine Corps and seeing combat during Desert Storm, Cunningham said he returned to his home state and joined the Albuquerque Police Department, eventually spending more than two decades in law enforcement.
“I worked on patrol and narcotics,” he said. “I spent years going undercover to fight gangs and cartels.”
Cunningham then turned directly to politics, arguing that Democratic control in Santa Fe and New Mexico’s all-Democratic congressional delegation had failed to make the state safer.
“Well, where has that gotten us?” Cunningham asked.
He cited New Mexico’s violent crime, property crime and drug-overdose problems as evidence.
The most recent fully comparable FBI-derived state data from 2024 showed New Mexico with 717 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, second only to Alaska among states — making New Mexico the highest among the contiguous 48 states. New Mexico also had the highest property-crime rate of any state, at 2,751 offenses per 100,000 people.
Nationally, violent and property crime fell sharply in 2025, according to newly released FBI figures, though those national declines do not necessarily reflect identical trends in every state or community.
Cunningham takes aim at Vasquez
The Republican reserved some of his sharpest criticism for Vasquez.
“My Democrat opponent, Gabe Vasquez, pretends to be a moderate,” Cunningham said, before pointing to Vasquez’s past rhetoric on policing and immigration enforcement.
During the 2020 racial-justice protests, Vasquez wrote that Americans needed to “deconstruct and rebuild the systems of oppression that keep black people in perpetual harm.” In another 2020 social-media post responding to a discussion about abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Vasquez wrote: “The only ICE we need to be melting.” Those past statements have repeatedly resurfaced during his congressional campaigns.
Vasquez’s more recent record includes calls for changes at ICE while supporting funding for other Department of Homeland Security agencies. In March, for example, he described himself as “steadfast” in seeking “serious, substantive reform for ICE,” while demanding funding for TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard.
Cunningham also highlighted Vasquez’s vote this year against a House resolution honoring law enforcement officers and crediting their work in reducing crime. Vasquez was among Democrats voting against the measure.
“New Mexicans do not have to live this way,” Cunningham said. “Yes, the border can be closed. Illegal crossings can be stopped.”
He credited Trump and congressional Republicans with changing immigration enforcement and targeting fentanyl trafficking.
Emotional tribute to Charlie Kirk
Cunningham closed on a more personal note, marking Thursday’s one-year anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University.
“I very literally would not be here if not for Charlie,” Cunningham said.
He told the audience that Kirk had visited his church and inspired him “to take a stand and answer a call to serve on this new battlefield.”
“And his horrific assassination exactly one year ago today convinced me that I needed to step up and run for Congress,” Cunningham said.
He finished by returning to the themes of public safety and border security.
“Law-abiding, hard-working New Mexicans want to live in peace and safety,” he said. “We want to keep our borders secure.”
NM-02 gets national attention
Cunningham’s convention appearance comes as national Republicans devote increasing attention to the Vasquez race.
House Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Albuquerque last month to campaign with Cunningham, who emphasized his 22 years in law enforcement during that visit.
The district is also unusual nationally: it is one of a small number of congressional districts that Trump carried in 2024 while remaining represented by a Democrat. Vasquez won reelection that year, and the district has produced close races in recent cycles.
Financially, the two candidates have also attracted substantial support. Federal campaign-finance figures reported by KOAT in July showed Cunningham raising $901,786 during the second quarter, narrowly exceeding Vasquez’s $900,884 during the same period, although Vasquez remained ahead in total cycle fundraising at that point.
Thursday’s appearance gave Cunningham an opportunity to make his case well beyond New Mexico.
His message in Dallas was straightforward: he wants the 2nd District contest framed around crime, law enforcement, the border and the direction of a state whose government is currently dominated by Democrats.
Whether those issues ultimately persuade voters will be determined in November, but Cunningham used his biggest national speaking opportunity yet to make clear what he wants the race to be about.
I am so glad he stepped up. We need really good candidates and for conservatives to get out and vote. It’s the only way we can turn this state around!
Greg hit a home run on a national stage. Proud of him.