Democrat Gabriel Vasquez won election Wednesday to the U.S. House of Representatives representing New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, defeating Republican Gregory G. Cunningham. Vasquez is a former aide to Sen. Martin Heinrich who went on to serve on the Las Cruces City Council before winning a seat representing one of the most evenly divided congressional districts in the nation. Cunningham is a former Marine and a retired detective with the Albuquerque Police Department who had lost previous bids to serve in the state’s House of Representatives. The Associated Press declared Vasquez the winner at 12:12 a.m. EST.