Politics of Leadership: Amy Barela verses Susan Payne

Almost 24 months ago I was asked to join AlamogordoTownNews.org as an intern to study and report on the politics of conservatism in Otero County, New Mexico. This project, for an African American woman at Cal Berkeley has been an exercise in patience and on many occasions holding my tongue to keep my personal bias from reporting. 

Otero County is a deep red leaning community in a state that leans blue. The state government is controlled by the Democratic Party. Otero County leans not Republican but Trumpian.

As a fishbowl of politics, Otero County is a microcosm of rural America. The area hosts a small city, Alamogordo, and rural county that is dependent upon the government tit for most employment opportunities.

Within Otero County, New Mexico poverty runs above the state and national average, the population is undereducated verses other areas of the state, harming business recruitment.

The county government is embedded with incestuous family members in leadership positions; cousins, sisters, in-laws that fail to recuse themselves from votes, that anywhere else in America, would be a conflict of interest. 

There are two dominant women in leadership within the region that have been interesting and entertaining to watch in their roles of leadership. 

Amy Barela is an Otero County Commissioner that was the underdog in a race for the position. She by fewer than 12 votes beat an Otero County favorite son GB Oliver to become a county commissioner. She ran on a platform of bringing collaboration, transparency, and integrity to county government. She then quickly assailed to the position of Chairperson of the New Mexico Republican Party. Since assuming that position her ideology has taken a hard Trumpian turn, her promises of collaboration and cooperation with all levels of government have gone to the wayside. She has made it personal in attacks against the city manager, Mayor Susan Payne and anyone that opposes her world view.

Alamogordo Mayor Susan Payne is the other strong woman who is in a position of power in Alamogordo, Otero County. Mayor Payne has also shown a personal preference to Trumpian policies however as Mayor she has shown an ability to act in a nonpartisan manner and reach across party lines to drive change within City government. Mayor Payne has been criticized for her comments on social media as “a private citizen” and at times as mayor has made her a lightening rod to the establishment and at times in commentaries within this platform. 

Recently there have been some visible fractures between collaborations between city and county governments and the hostility of Mrs. Barela towards Mayor Payne has become more visible. 

As such we thought it would be interesting to task an AI Model with judging the effectiveness and favorability of Mayor Susan Payne verses Amy Barela. We asked the AI model to evaluate the effectiveness of each in leadership, consensus building and who is the most effective politician best representative of constituent needs. The findings are published below…

Hypothetical Head-to-Head Breakdown

No formal polling pits Amy Barela against Susan Payne, but based on their public profiles, community reach, and issue appeal, here’s a reasoned projection via AI Algorithms…

Estimated Vote-Share in a City/County Wide Election

Candidate Estimated Share (%) Rationale

Susan Payne 53% Incumbent mayor, broad bipartisan appeal, strong nonprofit ties, viewed as able to bridge tough decision making and supportive of women and minorities in leadership with proven skills. 

Amy Barela 47% Deep bias to conservative base, exceptionally partisan leadership, countywide network, statewide political ambitions placing Otero constituents behind personal ambition.

Who’s Most Liked by the Public at Large?

 Susan Payne 58% Favorability Rating
Enjoys high favorability among both party moderates and independents.
Seen as a consensus-builder with visible nonprofit work that is recognized (Love INC).
Recognized for transparent city manager search and “Smart Growth” vision  Recognized for bringing change to hall in breaking the influence of the establishment in building codes, project management, infrastructure construction and awarding of contracts 

Amy Barela 42% Favorability Rating

Highly regarded by Republican activists more so across the state than locally.
Praised for door-to-door outreach and support of internet accessibility to rural areas of county
Less traction with centrists due to her overt partisan party leadership role which conflicts with the role of county government which is supposed to be nonpartisan 

Overall “most liked” tilts to Susan Payne

Who’s Most Effective?

Susan Payne 61% Effectiveness Rating
Hands-on problem-solving: led affordable housing workshops, supportive of Mayor Pro Tem Sharon McDonald’s cleanup drives, police-contract negotiations, and revamping city hall processes.
 Strong continuity in leadership, cross-sector partnerships.

Amy Barela 39% Effectiveness Rating
Somewhat effective at partisan mobilization, boosting GOP registration, and shaping statewide dialogue
State party chair role shows ambition beyond Otero county and prowess for power.

If your yardstick is responsiveness and broad coalition building, Payne edges Barela. 

Even more interesting is we asked the AI Model to evaluate the effectiveness of the Otero County Commission verses the City of Alamogordo’s Commission in serving constituent needs….

Hands down the Alamogordo City Commission was measured as more open, transparent and efficient in meeting constituent needs.

It also gave high marks to the Alamogordo City commission for making hard choices on budgets that while not politically popular were essential to long term infrastructure and economic growth.

Here’s a roundup of recent initiatives from each governing body in Alamogordo and Otero County, highlighting how they’ve been serving their constituencies proactively and positively:

 Alamogordo City Commission 64% Effectiveness Rating

Key Initiatives:

 FY2026 Budget Finalization: Held a special meeting on July 30, 2025, to approve the city’s budget and review quarterly financials A.

 Housing & Blight Workshop: Scheduled a workshop to address housing shortages and dilapidated structures 

Youth Engagement: Intern Priyam shadowed the city manager and spoke at the July 22 meeting, emphasizing youth interest in civic leadership.

Infrastructure Updates: Provides progress reports on  construction, and city projects from city manager. 

 Community Cleanup & Events: Celebrated citywide cleanup efforts of Sharon McDonald and promotes events like the Zoo Color Run and multiple events via social media posts from the office of the mayor. 

 MainStreet Project Funding championed and pushed for full funding for a downtown revitalization initiatives.

Animal Control Grant: Accepted a $20,000 grant to enhance local animal control services and more.

Approved and facilitated significant infrastructure improvements of water and sewer systems around the city from Bonito Lake, to Lower Heights Tanks, to Oregon Avenue pipelines and beyond. 

 Otero County Commission 36% Effectiveness Rating 

Key Initiatives:

Regular Governance: Continues monthly meetings to set countywide policy, with agendas and minutes publicly posted

Land Use & Zoning Oversight: Ongoing review of ordinances related to rural development and environmental impact.

Few public forums outside of state mandated forums

Note: The AI commissioned study pulled data from public records, social media engagement and scrubbing of News and Communication Technologies utilizing the tools of modern technologies.  A caveat of AI Study: This is a speculative exercise specific to a head to head comparison of Barela verses Payne. The actual results would depend on campaign dynamics, turnout, and issue salience.

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