Before U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez joined Sen. Martin Heinrich in asking President Joe Biden to give up his run for a second term, Vasquez had distanced himself from Biden. Last August, Vasquez was conspicuously absent from a Biden rally in New Mexico featuring a constellation of Democrats. Vasquez said he needed to spend time with his father, the Albuquerque Journal reported. He might as well have said he needed to wash his hair. It was clear he was already thinking ahead to this year’s race and didn’t want to give Republicans any ammunition, such as a photograph with Biden. We now know that Biden’s popularity has been cooling for the past year over concerns about his age. Biden bowed to party pressure and stepped down on July 21. In this political drama, New Mexico was a canary in the coal mine. Biden won New Mexico by double digits in 2020, but when Democratic governors met with Biden early this month, our governor warned him that he could lose the state, according to the Journal. “What I said in that July 3 meeting (was) New Mexico is a bellwether state,” she said. “We’re very predictive, and our Hispanic voters are very predictive.”

She told the White House before the debate that she was worried – a leaked poll put New Mexico in play – but if he was determined to stay in the race, she would support him.

Of the four Democrats running for Congress, Vasquez has the most at stake. The other two representatives have relatively safe bluish districts, and Heinrich is an incumbent. However, Congressional District 2 is a toss-up, despite a Dem-led redistricting that tilted the district a bit in their favor. So Vasquez, a first-term congressman, and his opponent, Republican Yvette Herrell, are running hard.

During better days in 2022, Biden graced a rally in Albuquerque’s South Valley, newly added to CD2. It might have helped Vasquez defeat Herrell, the incumbent, by less than a percentage point in 2022.

Since the debate, pressure was on Biden to step down and on members of Congress to step up and nudge him out of the race. As Republicans needled Vasquez to speak up, NBC asked Democratic candidates in swing districts, including Vasquez, about turmoil at the top of the ticket, Vasquez was one of several Democrats who said he was focused on his own campaign and that was “to stop MAGA Republicans like Donald Trump and Yvette Herrell who support extreme policies.”

“Regardless of who’s on the top of the ticket, I’m going to continue to bring home results and deliver for the people in New Mexico.”

The Biden campaign blew their man’s chance to talk to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. During a Zoom call on July 12, the campaign allowed only two members to pose questions, according to the nonpartisan online news source NOTUS. When the president offered to take more questions, Vasquez and another member tried to use the raised-hand feature; organizers lowered the hands.

A week later Heinrich, New Mexico’s senior senator, urged Biden to step aside. Vasquez followed a few hours later, saying Biden should step aside to give Democrats the “best opportunity to win in November.”

Heinrich, reflecting the party’s respect and fondness for the president, called Biden “one of the most accomplished presidents in modern history” and said he led the country through unprecedented challenges.

“However, this moment in our nation’s history calls for a focus that is bigger than any one person,” Heinrich said. “The return of Donald Trump to the White House poses an existential danger to our democracy. We must defeat him in November, and we need a candidate who can do that.”

A Republican strategist previously warned his people that it’s not over ‘til it’s over. Democrats just got a second wind.