Alamogordo NM
4-13-2026 5:45am

Smear Tactics and Dismissed Court Cases: The Dirty Politics Being Played Against Otero County Commission Candidate Jonathan Emery

A decorated veteran and 17-year Sheriff’s Office lieutenant is running to serve Otero County. His reward has been a social media smear campaign built around a lawsuit that was dismissed. Sound familiar? It should — it’s the same playbook being used across Otero County to silence anyone who challenges entrenched political power.

Jonathan Emery has spent seventeen years serving the people of Otero County. He worked for the Alamogordo Police Department beginning in 2006. Them he transferred and started as a patrol deputy with the Otero County Sheriff’s Office in 2009, worked his way up through the ranks to sergeant, then to lieutenant, and along the way took on administrative responsibilities and technology systems that keep the department running. He is a United States military veteran. He lives in La Luz with his wife for over 2 decases.  And as he approaches retirement from the department that has been his professional home for nearly two decades, he made a decision that countless law enforcement professionals make when they leave the badge: he decided to keep serving.

On January 21st, 2026, Emery announced his candidacy for Otero County Commissioner, District 2.

His campaign platform is straightforward: fiscal responsibility, economic development, infrastructure improvement, public safety, and community engagement. He is challenging incumbent Commissioner Amy Barela, who also serves as Chairwoman of the Republican Party of New Mexico — a dual role that has itself ignited a statewide controversy over whether Barela violated the party’s own rules by refusing to vacate her chair position after Emery filed to oppose her.

Emery’s entry into the race was a straightforward act of citizen service. What followed was anything but.

A Man’s Record — and the Smear Campaign Against It

In recent weeks, social media posts began circulating in Otero County targeting Emery with references to a lawsuit involving the Otero County Sheriff’s Department. The implication was clear: that something in Emery’s record made him unfit for office. The posts — circulated by accounts with ties to or sympathetic to the Barela camp — were designed to create doubt about a candidate whose actual record is one of long, documented public service.

There is one problem with the smear. The lawsuit was dismissed.


Court records show that the civil case in question, filed against the Otero County Sheriff’s Department and named individuals, was voluntarily dismissed — meaning it was resolved without any finding of wrongdoing against Emery or any other defendant. The court entered the order of dismissal with prejudice on all claims. The case is closed. There is no judgment. There is no finding. There is no adverse determination of any kind against Jonathan Emery.

“Featured are assumed innocent until proven guilty in court.” — Alamogordo Town News, March 2026. Contrary to the smear campaign is innocent as the case was dismissed. 

The documents attached to this report include the filed notice of voluntary dismissal and the court’s order confirming dismissal of all claims. These are public court records. They are unambiguous. The case that is being weaponized against Emery on social media as though it represents some kind of blemish on his record is, in the language of the law, a non-issue: dismissed, closed, done.

Emery was asked about the matter. He declined to amplify it further, consistent with his approach throughout this campaign: keep the focus on Otero County, its residents, and what he can actually do for them as commissioner. “I’m running because I believe we need leadership that listens, acts responsibly with taxpayer dollars, and works every day to improve the quality of life for all our residents,” he has said. “You should leave it better than you found it.”

Who Is Jonathan Emery?

For those who have not followed Emery’s career, the background matters. He joined the Otero County Sheriff’s Office in 2009 and served continuously for seventeen years across roles that span the full range of law enforcement work: patrol deputy, patrol supervisor, sergeant, administrative duties, public safety operations, and technology and communications systems management. He is also associated with the Tularosa Basin Regional Dispatch Authority in an IT capacity — a role that underscores his commitment to the infrastructure that connects law enforcement across the region.

District 2 is a geographically and culturally diverse district covering communities including La Luz, Tularosa, Mescalero, Bent, the Mescalero Apache Reservation area, Holloman Air Force Base’s military families, and parts of Alamogordo. It is a district that values law-and-order experience, fiscal discipline, and local accountability over party hierarchy. Emery’s biography fits that district.

His five campaign priorities reflect a grounded understanding of what county government actually does and what District 2 residents actually need:

Fiscal Responsibility — Ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and transparently, without waste or political favoritism.

Economic Development — Supporting small businesses and encouraging sustainable growth that serves existing residents rather than outside interests.

Infrastructure Improvements — Addressing the roads, utilities, and essential services that residents depend on daily.

Public Safety — Strengthening support for law enforcement and maintaining the safe communities that define Otero County’s quality of life.

Community Engagement — Bringing real listening and responsiveness to a commission seat that has too often operated at a distance from the voters it serves.

These are not partisan talking points. They are the priorities of a man who has spent his entire adult professional life working in and for this community and who understands, from daily experience, what its residents need from their government.

The Barela Advantage — and the Playbook Being Used Against Emery

Amy Barela is not simply an incumbent commissioner. She is the Chairwoman of the Republican Party of New Mexico. In a county as Republican-dominated as Otero, where the primary winner is effectively the general election winner, that institutional advantage is enormous. Barela controls access to party resources, party communications infrastructure, and party donor networks in a way that no challenger can match on equal terms.

That is precisely why RPNM Uniform State Rules 1-4-4 exist. The rule requires that any state party officer who files for public office in a contested primary immediately vacate their party post. The rule is designed to prevent exactly the situation that now exists in Otero County: a sitting state party chairwoman using the machinery of the party she leads to tilt a local primary in her favor. When Emery filed at 9:08 a.m. on March 10, 2026 — two minutes after Barela — that rule was triggered. Barela has refused to vacate her chair. As of this writing, fifteen New Mexico county Republican organizations have called for her resignation. The Bernalillo County Republican First Vice Chair called the situation “cut and dry,” comparing it to driving 85 in a 65 mph zone.

Into this environment of institutional imbalance comes the social media smear. When you cannot beat a candidate on the merits — when his record is long, documented, and creditable — the playbook is to manufacture doubt. Circulate references to a lawsuit. Let the implication hang. Do not explain that it was dismissed. Do not provide context. Simply create the impression that something is wrong.

It is the same playbook Alamogordo Town News has documented being used elsewhere in Otero County politics: false or misleading information circulated via social media to disparage quality public servants and citizen candidates who threaten entrenched interests. We have seen it in a smear campaign surrounding the Alamogordo city manager appointment, where misinformation spread rapidly by similar players to undermine qualified candidates and public servants. We are seeing it now against Jonathan Emery.

The Record Is Clear: The Case Was Dismissed

Let us be direct about what the court documents show. The civil lawsuit that has been circulated on social media as though it represents a mark against Jonathan Emery was voluntarily dismissed and the court entered an order of dismissal with the approval of all parties and their counsel. The order is signed. The case is closed. The relevant documents — submitted as part of this report — show the signatures of all counsel of record and the court’s confirmation of dismissal.

A dismissed case is not evidence of wrongdoing. It is not a finding against anyone. It is not a blemish on a record. In the American legal system, cases are filed and cases are dismissed — every day, in every court, for a wide variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the underlying conduct of named defendants. The courts are clear on this. The public record is clear on this. The only thing that is not clear is why individuals with political motivations continue to circulate references to this case without disclosing that it was dismissed.

The answer, of course, is that the dismissal defeats the narrative. And the narrative — not the truth — is the point.

“Otero County is a place I’m proud to call home. I’m running because we need leadership that listens, acts responsibly with taxpayer dollars, and works every day to improve the quality of life for all our residents.” — Jonathan Emery, District 2 Candidate

A Pattern Otero County Voters Deserve to Recognize

This is not an isolated incident. Alamogordo Town News has documented a consistent pattern in Otero County’s recent political landscape: the use of social media misinformation campaigns to damage the reputations of candidates, public servants, of this journalist who challenge those in power or who serve in roles that political actors wish to influence.

We saw it in the swirl of false narratives around the Alamogordo city manager search, where qualified candidates for a critical civic role were subjected to social media attacks designed not to inform the public but to manipulate the outcome of a personnel decision for political ends. We see it now in the targeted circulation of lawsuit references against Emery — references stripped of the dispositive fact that the case was dismissed.

The tactic relies on one consistent assumption: that voters will not look up the underlying facts. That they will see a headline, absorb the implication, and move on. Alamogordo Town News exists, in part, to ensure that assumption fails. The underlying facts are available. The court record is public. The dismissal is documented. We are publishing it.

Voters in District 2 will cast their ballots in the Republican primary on June 2, 2026. They deserve to make that decision based on accurate information about both candidates. On one side is an incumbent commissioner who also serves as state party chairwoman, who has refused to vacate that chair position despite the plain language of her own party’s rules, and whose supporters have circulated a dismissed lawsuit as though it were meaningful evidence of wrongdoing. On the other side is a seventeen-year law enforcement veteran and United States military veteran who filed for office as a straightforward act of community service and whose actual record is one of documented, sustained public service to Otero County.

Otero County voters are capable of evaluating those records honestly. They deserve the information to do so.

THE FACTS AT A GLANCE

Jonathan T. Emery | Republican Primary, Otero County Commission District 2 | June 2, 2026

• 17 years with the Otero County Sheriff’s Office (2009–present), 2 years Alamogordo Police Department 

• Ranks held: Deputy, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Patrol Supervisor

• United States military veteran

• Resident of La Luz, New Mexico over 2 decades

• Filed for District 2 commission seat on March 10, 2026 at 9:08 a.m. in line the same time as Barela

• The civil lawsuit circulated on social media against Emery: DISMISSED. No finding of wrongdoing. Case closed.

For information on the campaign Campaign contact: otero3350@gmail.com | (575) 921-5074

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