Ex-police officer running for Congress features man who pleaded

The first rule of running an ad about drug trafficking is don’t star a drug trafficker. Greg Cunningham, the former Albuquerque cop running for New Mexico’s competitive House seat, apparently didn’t get that memo. His new public safety spot features a man who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges. That’s not a typo. That’s a self-inflicted wound in a campaign that can’t afford one.

Maybe the man has a redemption story. Maybe he’s an old friend. It doesn’t matter. The opposition gets to freeze that frame and run it next to a line about keeping New Mexico safe. Democrats will spend the next two months pretending this is the whole Republican campaign. In a district that close, this is the kind of detail that loses by a few hundred votes.

What makes it maddening is Cunningham has the right background. A real cop, not a pretend one. He should be talking about fentanyl crossing the border and repeat offenders walking back out of Albuquerque courts. Instead, he just handed Democrats the clip for every mailer. A message about public safety has to look like it understands what a public safety threat is.

Campaigns are about trust. Voters in New Mexico need to believe Cunningham will be as careful with their safety as he should have been with this ad. Own it, explain it, move on. The seat is winnable, but only if the candidate stops making the other side’s argument for them.