Nearly three weeks into her freshmen term, Congresswoman Yvette Herrell, R-N.M., is adjusting to life in the nation’s capital, representing New Mexico’s second district.

Herrell was sworn in as a part of the 117th Congress on Jan. 3, and despite being away from family, colder weather, and no green chile, she said she is excited to represent her district.

“The new freshmen class has been amazing, and it’s really kind of surreal to be serving side-by-side with some of my friends and colleagues, who I have such a great deal of respect for,” Herrell told the Gallup Sun.

Due to the pandemic and security in the nation’s capital, Herrell watched President Joe Biden’s inauguration from her Wash. D.C. home.

“The President had a message of unity that was woven throughout pretty much everything (in) his speech,” Herrell said. “The most important thing is that we find common ground.”

Included in her first few weeks of work on Capitol Hill, Herrell mentioned she had signed on with a term-limit bill that would prohibit longer than two 3-year terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and two 6-year terms in the U.S. Senate.

She won the House seat with over 53 percent of the vote over incumbent Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., meaning that some 120,000 voters did not support Herrell.

Herrell was not disturbed by that and offered the following message for all the constituents in her district.

“I think there are enough things that we can find common ground on, and I’m very accessible,” Herrell said. “We have more people in the offices in the district, than we do in Washington, and I did that on purpose.

“I wanted to ensure that people understood they would have access to our staff, to us. We have a veteran’s liaison, a law enforcement liaison, bill directors and a district director [in New Mexico].”

Herrell plans to be back in Dist. 2 as often as possible and hopes to be back in New Mexico at least 1-to-2 weeks a month.

She says she hopes to make herself available to area voters by providing frequent updates through local media outlets.

“I want to tell people, I know we aren’t always going to agree 100 percent, but if there are issues or policies that are interesting to them, or that they have concerns about, or want to talk about, please reach out to me and let’s not assume because we come from different party backgrounds that we can’t find commonality,” Herrell said.

“I want to thank everyone for their continued support and their prayers. I know the nation is in need of repair, and I really want to serve the people as a whole.”

By Dominic Aragon
Sun Correspondent