NEW: Ex-Cop Greg Cunningham Features Drug Trafficker in New Campaign Ad
September 25, 2026
Washington, D.C. – New reporting from The Washington Examiner reveals that Greg Cunningham, a former police officer running for Congress in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District on a law-and-order platform, is out with a new campaign ad featuring a man who pleaded guilty to two counts of cocaine trafficking with intent to distribute and later violated his probation.
Read more below:
The Washington Examiner: Ex-police officer running for Congress features man who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in new campaign ad
By Lauren Green
September 25, 2026
- A former police officer and Republican candidate for a competitive New Mexico House seat featured a man who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in a campaign ad last week as he centers his campaign on public safety and law enforcement.
- Greg Cunningham, a former Albuquerque police officer, appeared in an ad produced with the National Republican Congressional Committee that featured Raymond De La Cruz.
- De La Cruz pleaded guilty in 2001 to two charges of cocaine trafficking with intent to distribute, according to court documents. De La Cruz did not serve jail time but was sentenced to probation.
- He was then arrested in 2005 for violating his probation, which he admitted to, extending his probation by two years.
- The ad spotlights Cunningham’s career as an officer and Marine. The video shows two men working in a barber shop talking to a customer about why they will vote for Cunningham. The ad also appears to mistakenly mislabel the two men seen working in the shop by switching their names on screen.
- Cunningham is challenging Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) in November and has made law and order central to his campaign.
###