Amy Barela

Chaos again engulfed the New Mexico Republican Party Wednesday as the GOP chair was removed from office by a state district court order. The ruling was a grim reminder to the party faithful of the steep climb ahead if they hope to rebuild a state GOP that has become a shadow of its former self. 

The timing of the ruling comes only days before the primary election. The state party says it will appeal the ruling which came after months of squabbling among the party's rival factions, causing deep divisions in the middle of the primary campaign. 

The next scheduled election by the State Central Committee to vote on a permanent party chairman is in December. It is conceivable that Barela could make a play to get the job back. Several of our Alligators said if the party wants to keep the chaos going, a move to have an earlier election could surface. 

 THE RULING 

The decision, granting GOP governor candidate Duke Rodriguez and GOP lieutenant governor candidate A. Blain Dunn their request that Chair Amy Barela be removed from power, brought to the fore the geographical and ideological split in the party. Rodriguez and Dunn have libertarian leanings and live in the ABQ metro while Barela and many of her loyalists are from uber-conservative southeast New Mexico.

Barela argued to the court that she did not violate party rules by running for re-election to her Otero County Commission seat in next week's primary even though another Republican was also running.  

Party rules prohibit a party chair from being a candidate in a competitive primary. Barela argued she got in the race when there was no other candidate but the judge rejected the argument and handed the victory to Rodriguez and Dunn. 

Judge Cindy Mercer of the 13th Judicial District in Valencia County wrote in her decision:

(The conflict of interest rule) is intended to avoid conflicts of interest by preventing a party officer from remaining in office while running in a contested primary. For conflict-of-interest purposes, it makes no difference whether the party officer was first or last to file her candidacy for public office; the conflict arises because she is a party officer, holding authority and making decisions on behalf of the party, while at the same time running for public office against another party member. Accordingly, Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction is granted. Amy Smith Barela is hereby enjoined from continuing to hold the position of chairman of the Republican Party.

Judge Mercer's full ruling is here. Plantiff Duke Rodriguez's reaction: 

This was never about one person. It was about whether the rules apply to everyone or just to the people inside the room making the rules.

THE APPEAL 

The state GOP says an appeal of the ruling is planned:

(The ruling) to direct Chairwoman Barela to turn over the occupancy of the chair to the First Vice Chair, although the order’s duration is unclear, it does not direct the Party to hold new elections, and it does not declare the position of chair is vacant. “The Republican Party of New Mexico strongly contends that this order is a prior restraint on free speech, in violation of the First Amendment,” said Executive Director, Leticia Muñoz. “However, the Party will comply fully with what it understands the order to require, for as long as it remains in effect, and we are in the process of appealing to a higher court.”

STATE OF THE GOP

With the GOP unable to elect any statewide candidates in a decade, the ideological division that now matters is not between the Dems and the Republicans but the one between the conservative/moderate Democrats and their progressive counterparts.

The progressives are clearly winning the battle with Deb Haaland heavily favored to win the June 2 Dem gubernatorial primary over moderate Sam Bregman. Several conservative Dem state House candidates running against progressives are expected to meet a similar fate. For example, in the north Ambrose Castelllano lags behind progressive Rep. Anita Gonzales and former Rep. Debbie Rodella is expected to fall to progressive Yolanda Jaramillo.

Barela's tenure--which may or may not be permanently over--was dismal by one critical measure. The party failed to field candidates for state treasurer, auditor and US senate and had to resort to write-in candidates.

The governor's race has already been called unwinnable by the head of the state oil and gas association, a prime repository for all things Republican and, as usual, none of the statewide races seem within Republican reach especially with Trump's unpopularity hovering over them. 

Getting past their internal strife, getting past Trump and reforming their muddled messaging are the major challenges in rebuilding the party into something resembling a functioning alternative to the Democrats. It will also take a lot of money. Most urgently, it will take fresh, younger faces to replace an old guard that is so out of touch it takes a district judge to bring order not just to the courtroom but to the Grand Old Party.

JUDGE CINDY MERCER

She is a judge with the Thirteenth Judicial District covering Valencia, Sandoval and Cibola counties. All of the local district judges in the Otero county area recused themselves because of the high-profile of the Barela case and it was assigned to Judge Mercer.

The state GOP news release on her ruling made a point of saying Mercer is a "Valencia County" judge, again emphasizing the southern conservative isolation from the north that we wrote of earlier in this blog. 

The fact that Mercer, a Democrat, once worked for the law offices of former state Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez of Belen could also be mentioned as the Barela forces plot their next move. But Mercer's ruling cited numerous precedents on why the court has the standing to make a ruling and the rigorous standards she applied in judging the disputed GOP rules.

Her Judicial Performance Evaluation is here. She was elected to the bench in 2014 with 52.3 percent of the vote and was retained by voters in a 2020 retention election. She is up for another six year retention vote this year. Judge Mercer graduated from New Mexico State in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminal justice, and earned her law degree from the University of Nebraska in 1997.

THE BOTTOM LINES

Be sure to join us Monday, June 1 at 5 PM for our Election Eve Special on KANW 89.1 FM and kanw.org. We'll run down the major races and have some fun predictions as well. Joining me will be state Sen. Moe Maestas, Rep. Joy Garratt, GOP official Amy Sanchez, GOP consultant Bob Cornelius and Dem lobbyist/consultant Sisto Abeyta. Of course, we'll also bring you our traditional Election Night coverage--Tuesday night starting at 6:30 PM. See you on the radio Monday and Tuesday. 

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