LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Border Report) – Speaker Mike Johnson came to Las Cruces knowing a handful of toss-up districts will decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November.

He wasted no time endorsing former Congresswoman Yvette Herrell in the race for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District.

“We came here to turn up the heat in this district,” Johnson, R-Louisiana, told a packed house in Herrell’s new Las Cruces campaign office. “I am so excited about Yvette getting back in this battle. She served with us in Congress, we desperately need her back. She is a great spirit, she is a fighter, she is a small businesswoman and job creator.”

The speaker spent a few minutes talking up Herrell’s work in her home state and during her one term in the House of Representatives. He said he thinks of her as “a friend, as a sister.”

“She has proven herself in the state Legislature and she did it in Congress as well. But we have a tough district here, right? The 2nd District of New Mexico is one of the big ‘toss-up’ districts in the country, but we’re going to prove them wrong,” he said.

Herrell is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, to whom she lost two years ago after the Democratic-controlled state Legislature redrew her district all the way to Albuquerque.

Various national polls and analysts including the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rate the district as a toss-up. The most favorable poll for Republicans as of Aug. 16 had the GOP two seats short of the 218 districts needed to control the House. That one, too, has NM-02 as a toss-up district.

On Wednesday, Vasquez remained optimistic about being part of his party’s plans for the future of America.

“The future of our country is at stake,” he told Border Report while attending a trade meeting in Sunland Park, New Mexico. “In Chicago, Democrats are delivering a message of positivity of a future that is brighter for Americans. [….] For me, it’s a duty that I’ve chosen, it’s the public service that I’ve entered. So, it’s critically important that New Mexicans come out to vote and choose somebody who has put the work in and been able to deliver for this district, which I have.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee is helping Herrell with her bid by staffing her Solano Drive “Battle Station” campaign office.

Herrell on Wednesday acknowledged the speaker’s backing and spoke about supporting American energy production, regaining the “moral high ground” on American values and enforcing immigration laws.

“In our nation right now, they are burning American flags, they’re saying, ‘Death to America!’ How is that possible in a country that we have service members and vets who fought so hard to keep us free? This is where we are at,” Herrell said.

She and Johnson denounced the Biden administration’s policies and words they say led to a historic surge in illegal immigration in the past three and a half years. In doing so, they repeated concerns heavily criticized by Democrats regarding undocumented migrants possibly voting in U.S. elections, receiving federal benefits or posing a security threat.

“I believe there is about 16 million illegals who have come across the border during Biden-Harris. The numbers they report are much lower, but I’ve been to the border a lot,” Johnson said. “What the Border Patrol tells us is about 70 percent of the people who’ve crossed over are single adult males ages 18 to 45. These are not persecuted families needing asylum; these are dangerous individuals.”

Some GOP faithful attending Johnson’s visit believe immigration is one of the issues that will lead to flipping the district.

“The number one issue is the border crisis. The crisis is crazy with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Gabe Vasquez championing open borders radical policies,” said state Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo. “With the economy, you see how families are hurting every single day.”