LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The Republican Party of New Mexico is sharply criticizing one of its candidates in a closely watched GOP primary for a U.S. House seat in the southern part of the state.
The state party last week accused candidate Chris Mathys of Las Cruces of making “intentional misstatements of the facts and untrue accusations” against former state Rep. Yvette Herrell, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported .
The party says Mathys was wrong for describing a bill introduced by Herrell filed during New Mexico’s 2015 legislative session as “pro-abortion.”
The bill called for a ban on abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. Herrell, an Alamogordo Republican, sponsored the legislation without exceptions for pregnancy caused by rape, or in cases where the health or life of mother or child were endangered.
Mathys has criticized Herrell in his campaign literature for submitting a bill “that would allow an abortion up to the 5th month” of a woman’s pregnancy.
Herrell, who lost to Democratic U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in 2018, is seeking the GOP nomination again to challenge her.
“The Republican Party of New Mexico expects highly contested and energetic campaigns when Republicans run against Republicans in a primary,” the party’s statement read.
While stating that the party generally refrains from commenting on campaigns, it added, “the party will hold to the standard of truth. When ads or mailers are untruthful, RPNM stands ready to speak out and condemn the ads and the actions by any candidate and their team.”
Oil executive Claire Chase also is running in the Republican primary.
New Mexico has had a statutory ban on abortion on the books since 1969. The law makes it a felony for a provider to terminate a pregnancy, but allows exceptions for rape, birth defects and serious threats to a woman’s health. The law is unenforceable due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the United States.
Mathys told the Las Cruces Sun-News his campaign will likely pull the ad criticizing Herrell’s abortion bill. But he was defiant in his criticism.
“My position, my entire life, is that life starts at conception,” Mathys said. “The bill is clear that abortion’s OK up to five months and late-term abortions should be banned. We disagree. We think that life starts at conception.”
Herrell called the criticism a smear.
“These false attacks on the entire pro-life movement in our state are politics at its worst,” she said in a written statement from her campaign. “I believe that life starts at conception, and I am grateful that so many pro-life, legislative, and party leaders have pointed out how misleading this attack is.”
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