Alva Review-Courier -

COLUMBUS, N.M. (AP) — Flashing lights shook William Johnson from a deep sleep around midnight earlier this month when U.S. Border Patrol agents surrounded his home. The 71-year-old retired chef peeked out a window, then waited for a knock at the door. It never came.

"Guess they were looking for someone," he shrugged before going back to bed. Such patrols happen often in Columbus, New Mexico.

As Democrats seek to flip a key GOP U.S. House seat in southern New Mexico, the path to victory in districts like these includes winning over fiercely independent voters in border communities who have thei...