RIO RANCHO, N.M. (AP) - An influential sheriff has switched his endorsement in an increasingly nasty Republican primary race for crucial U.S. House race in southern New Mexico.
Eddy County Sheriff Mark Cage said Monday he is throwing his support behind oil executive Claire Chase for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small.
Cage initially has supported former state lawmaker Yvette Herrell for the nomination - a move that Herrell advertised on her campaign’s Facebook page. He later said he was staying neutral after Chase jumped in the race
“Unfortunately, the latest very personal, very ugly attacks on my friend Claire Chase have driven me to do otherwise,” Cage said in a video.
Herrell has faced criticism for exchanging text messages with a cartoonist who was drafting a meme around false rumors Chase had cheated on her first husband. Text messages obtained by The Associated Press show Herrell offering suggestions to the meme.
Chase also has been the target of Herrell campaign commercials that uses a cheerleader’s voice to read old Chase Facebook posts attacking Trump. The ad has been called sexist.
In a statement, Chase said she was excited to have Cage’s support.
A spokesman for Herrell’s campaign did not immediately return a text message.
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