A former police officer and Republican candidate for a competitive New Mexico House seat featured a man who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in a campaign ad last week as he centers his campaign on public safety and law enforcement.
asserted
he → feature → safety
Greg Cunningham, a former Albuquerque police officer, appeared in an ad produced with the National Republican Congressional Committee that featured Raymond De La Cruz.
asserted
that → appear → Cruz
De La Cruz pleaded guilty in 2001 to two charges of cocaine trafficking with intent to distribute, according to court documents.
uncertain
Cruz → plead → documents
De La Cruz did not serve jail time but was sentenced to probation.
asserted
Cruz → serve → probation
He was then arrested in 2005 for violating his probation, which he admitted to, extending his probation by two years.
asserted
he → arrest → years
The ad spotlights Cunningham’s career as an officer and Marine.
asserted
ad → spotlight → officer
The video shows two men working in a barber shop talking to a customer about why they will vote for Cunningham.
asserted
they → show → Cunningham
The ad also appears to mistakenly mislabel the two men seen working in the shop by switching their names on screen.
asserted
ad → appear → screen
“I’ve been cutting his hair for 30 years,” the men say in conversation with one another.
asserted
men → cut → one
“Yeah, he’s a retired cop, Marine.
asserted
he → ’ → ?
He’ll cut taxes, bring back jobs, let us keep more of our money.”
asserted
us → cut → money
Cunningham is challenging Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) in November and has made law and order central to his campaign.
asserted
law → challenge → campaign
“As a Marine who served this state for over 20 years in law enforcement, including working undercover to take on cartels, I am unapologetically for law and order,” Cunningham told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
asserted
Cunningham → serve → statement
Cunningham also said De La Cruz “made a mistake” and wants to give New Mexicans “willing to work hard a fighting chance.”
asserted
Cruz → say → chance
“Ray is my barber and a hardworking New Mexican who made a mistake, he bore the consequences, and has built a business and a life for himself.
asserted
he → make → himself
Democrats have wrecked New Mexico, and I want to turn our state into a land of opportunity.
asserted
I → wreck → opportunity
That starts by giving any New Mexican who is willing to work hard a fighting chance,” he said.
asserted
he → start → chance
Republicans are trying to make public safety a contrasting issue against Vasquez, as it has followed him since his first election to Congress in 2022.
asserted
it → try → 2022
That year, a local news interview resurfaced from the 2020 George Floyd protests, in which Vasquez, wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask, called for defunding the police.
asserted
Vasquez → resurface → police
But he has since tried to move back to the center on the issue of policing, through different pieces of legislation, such as one that aimed to update drone and counter-drone technologies to help law enforcement agencies combat border cartels and track public safety threats.
asserted
agencies → try → threats
Republicans continue to point out those previous comments, along with the congressman’s own past.
asserted
Republicans → continue → past
In 2005, the congressman was criminally cited for marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.
asserted
congressman → cite → paraphernalia
In both cases, he was released with a criminal summons, and the cases were suspended.
asserted
cases → release → summons
A separate time, police in El Paso had allegedly executed an arrest warrant for Vasquez for overdue traffic violation fees in the state, though his attorney denied he was arrested at the time this resurfaced.
uncertain
this → execute → time
“Gabe Vasquez had a warrant issued for his arrest, failed to appear in court, and then spent his political career trying to defund the police as revenge against law enforcement,” NRCC Spokesman Reilly Richardson told the Washington Examiner.
asserted
Richardson → issue → Examiner
“Now he’s sending his DC Democrat thugs after hardworking New Mexicans who dare speak out against his radical policies.
asserted
who → send → policies
We will not be lectured by a defund the police radical trying to cover his tracks.”
asserted
We → lecture → tracks
The Aporia
