Former Las Cruces fire chief Adolf Zubia has joined the race for Congress in New Mexico’s southern district.
Zubia is a Democrat who will compete for his party’s nomination. The seat is now held by Republican Rep. Steve Pearce, who is giving it up to make a bid for governor.
Pearce has comfortably won the district, which stretches from Lordsburg to Hobbs, each time he has been on the ballot. But with Pearce bowing out to run for the state’s highest office, some Democrats say 2018 represents the best chance they have had in years to win his seat, even though it includes some of New Mexico’s most staunchly Republican counties.