ALBUQUERQUE

U.S. House candidate Yvette Herrell came out of the state Republican pre-primary convention Saturday ahead of the GOP competition in what promises to be a fierce fight for the 2nd Congressional District.

With a plurality of Republican delegates pledging their support for Herrell, she’s ahead of former New Mexico Oil and Gas Association executive Claire Chase, who drew headlines recently over a television ad in which she shoots a red flag in protest of the recently signed “red-flag” law allowing police to seize firearms from people deemed by a court to be a threat to themselves or others.

Herrell, a former state representative and real estate agent, received 168 votes to make it on the ballot compared to Chase’s 83 among 587 delegates and 690 total votes.

The third Republican candidate, businessman Chris Mathys, did not receive enough support from fellow Republicans to make it on the ballot. He has the option of returning to the secretary of state with more signatures instead.

But one thing is clear: Herrell is the clear favorite of many party members after Saturday’s convention in a district that is anticipated to be one of the most competitive congressional races in the country.

Herrell has been endorsed by North Carolina U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, who is now President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, the Freedom Caucus and a slew of others in the party. She fired up supporters at the convention with a passionate speech about religion.

“We must put God back in the conversation,” Herrell said before the delegate vote. “We have taken God out of schools … and the left has pushed God out of our businesses, out of our government, out of our homes and if we’re not careful, out of our churches.”

The House seat is held by U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, a first-term Democrat who won a district that supported Trump during his 2016 bid for the White House.

Torres Small voted to impeach the president, which her Republican opponents have and likely will continue to slam her for.

Political organizations in support of Trump have already poured hundreds of thousands of dollars in television and social media ads attacking the congresswoman for supporting the inquiry leading up to the historic U.S. House vote to impeach.

Herrell told reporters after the convention that Saturday is “a testament to all of our hard work and all the effort that we’ve put in. It clearly shows the momentum that we have going into this last 80 days or so of the primary.”

Chase raised $261,417 in the final months and has $588,519 cash on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission. Herrell raised $188,005 during the final 2019 fundraising quarter and has $463,846 cash on hand.

But party support at the convention does not necessarily translate to support from primary voters.

“I think people are excited about a newcomer,” Chase said. “I’m running against somebody who’s been in the race for three years, and we weren’t sure if we were gonna get out 20 percent. So to get above that, roughly 10 percent above that, we were very excited about the results, so I’m happy.”

Also Saturday, U.S. Senate hopeful Elisa Martinez, a Republican seeking the party’s nomination to battle Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, came out with more delegate support than primary opponent Mark Ronchetti, a former longtime Albuquerque TV meteorologist.

The other three Republican candidates in that race did not make the ballot because they did not receive at least 20 percent of party member votes at the convention.

New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce said the enthusiasm at the convention shows the party is poised to take back congressional seats in November.

Pearce did not endorse any Republican candidates.

“But I think we’ve got a strong field in every single race from U.S. Senate all the way down to House,” he said. “I think we’re going to be competitive in all three seats. You can see the passion, the enthusiasm and I think that’s what it takes to win races.”

In Santa Fe’s 3rd Congressional District, Republicans favored the only candidate who was previously a Democrat: former Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya, who received 86 votes to land on the ballot at the convention.

Navajo Nation member Karen Bedonie — who spoke on the convention stage with a rifle in her hands — came in second place with 69 votes. Anise Golden Morper received 39 votes, followed by Santa Fe engineer Alexis Johnson and Portales cattle rancher Audra Brown.

Last month, the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office disqualified Golden Morper as a candidate for failing to use a legally prescribed petition form to collect voter signatures, and state District Judge Bryan Biedscheid upheld that decision.

But Golden Morper appealed to the state Supreme Court, which ruled 4-1 Thursday to overturn Biedscheid’s decision. The high court ordered the District Court to direct the Secretary of State’s Office to certify Golden Morper as a candidate at Saturday’s GOP pre-primary convention.