NM GOP rift over chairwoman spills into court with days before primary

A New Mexico judge on Thursday considered arguments from Republicans on both sides of a widening intra-party divide in a case that could oust the state party chairwoman from her post with fewer than two weeks before the June 2 primary.

Republican primary candidates filed the lawsuit April 30, alleging that Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela violated party rules when she continued to serve as chair while running for re-election in a contested primary for her Otero County Commission seat.

The plaintiffs — gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez, lieutenant governor candidate Aubrey Blair Dunn and Barela’s primary opponent Jonathen Emery — also allege Barela and other Republican Party of New Mexico officials have used party resources to implicitly endorse other Republican candidates, which the plaintiffs say is unfair and also violates party rules. 

Gary Mitchell, the plaintiffs’ attorney, urged Thirteenth Judicial District Judge Cindy Mercer to issue a preliminary injunction that would remove Barela as chair, as well as order the party not to endorse candidates during the primary. He said Barela and other party officials clearly violated the rules. 

“A tortured interpretation of these rules betrays the intent of the rules. The intent of the rules is simple and straightforward,” he said. “It is to make certain that in a primary the party itself and the party officials do not put their fingers on the scales.”

RPNM attorney Carter Harrison conceded at the end of the hearing Thursday that the rule regarding whether Barela can serve as both party chairwoman and candidate is “ambiguous,” but he detailed what he described as good-faith efforts by the party to come to a resolution and find an interpretation of the law. 

He also said the courts should have no say in how political parties handle their own members and rules, saying a judicial order that removed Barela or declared that the party violated its rules  would violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by intervening in a political party’s right to freely associate and conduct political speech. He said more than 50 years of case law back up that assertion.

Candidate lawsuit seeks to unseat state NM Republican party chair, prohibit endorsements

“We’re very passionate that the decision has to be made within the party and subject to the procedural opportunities that exist within the party,” he said.  “It’s not for the government, including a court, to make.”

Barela did not testify. 

Mercer told the parties gathered at the video hearing Thursday that she would consider the arguments and issue a ruling as soon as possible. 

Harrison noted that the removal of the party chair near the crescendo of a months-long primary race would force the party to hold a vote to replace her with little time. 

RPNM Executive Director Leticia Muñoz-Kaminski, during her testimony, said it would be “very difficult” to replace Barela before the primary, though she later told Mercer that the party’s vice chair would be in charge of the party during the interim. According to court records, the RPNM’s first vice chair is Mike Nelson.

The case Mercer heard Thursday is one of two that seeks to remove Barela from her post. Plaintiffs in  the second case comprise a group of Republican county party chairs who say Barela is illegally serving as chair. That case was also scheduled to be heard Thursday, but it was canceled, according to court records.