66° and Sunny
Image
5-02-2026 12:51pm
The Law vs. The Chair: How Retiring Deputy Sheriff Johnathan Emory Becomes the Face of New Mexico’s Republican Reckoning Against Amy Barela and the Establishment
Chris Edwards
Editor
Jonathan Emery spent over two decades upholding law and order. Now the 20-year law enforcement veteran is taking that same commitment — this time to a courtroom — against the woman who leads his own party.
In a story almost too fitting to be fiction, the man who filed papers to challenge Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela for her Otero County Commission seat is not a political operative, a wealthy donor, or a career politician. He is Jonathan T. Emery — a former military serviceman, a 17-year Otero County Sheriff’s Office deputy, and now an IT professional for the Tularosa Basin Regional Dispatch Authority — a man whose entire adult life has been defined by one simple principle: rules matter, and they apply to everyone.
On March 10, 2026, at 9:08 a.m. — just two minutes after Barela filed for re-election at 9:06 a.m. — Emery in line at the same time his filing was transmitted into the Secretary of State’s filing office and submitted his candidacy for the same seat. That two-minute window, by the Republican Party of New Mexico’s own Uniform State Rule 1-4-4, instantly triggered a clear obligation: any state party officer who faces a contested Republican primary “shall immediately vacate the party office.”
Barela’s response was to declare the rule did not apply to her.
“The issue is very simple. The speed limit is 65 mph and you’re going 85… she’s already vacated the position.”
— Mark Murton, First Vice Chair, Bernalillo County Republicans
What followed was months of mounting pressure — formal calls for resignation from county GOP organizations across the state, a failed State Central Committee vote that collapsed for lack of quorum, an outside party review that split hairs over the two-minute filing gap to declare Barela “fully compliant,” and ultimately, a week that ended with two separate lawsuits seeking her removal as chair.
The lawsuit bearing Emery’s name was filed in the 12th Judicial District Court in Alamogordo. He is joined by Republican gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez, lieutenant governor candidate Aubrey Blair Dunn, and two anonymous members of the State Central Committee. In addition to Barela, the suit names State Senator and GOP National Committeeman James Townsend and Party Treasurer Kimberly Skaggs as defendants, accusing party leadership of violating rules by effectively picking sides in contested primary races
As evidence, plaintiffs point to a screenshot from the RPNM’s official social media account promoting a meet-and-greet event that featured only certain candidates — with the endorsing sign-off “You don’t want to miss this!” — while Rodriguez and Dunn were pointedly not invited.
A second lawsuit against Barela was filed simultaneously to the 2nd Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County — was brought by a coalition of five county party chairs, including Bernalillo County Chair Daphne Order, joined by other party members. That suit similarly asks a judge to declare Barela’s chair position vacant.
“We hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” said Albuquerque attorney Robert Aragon, who filed the Bernalillo complaint at no charge, “but in reality, litigation is now our only recourse.”
For Emery, the irony is impossible to overlook. Here is a man who spent the better part of his adult life enforcing the law — first in uniform serving his country, then for 17 years in a sheriff’s department where his word meant accountability, order, and consequences — now forced to seek relief in a court of law because the chair of his own political party refuses to follow its written rules. For Barela, the irony cuts just as sharply: her two lawsuits represent the legal consequence of a pattern critics say has defined her tenure — defiance of the very standards her party exists to uphold.
“It’s clear that Amy Barela refuses to follow the rules, and when it was suggested to her that she recuse herself from running for public office in a contested race in Otero County, she refused to take it under consideration.”
— Plaintiff statement, 12th Judicial District lawsuit
Barela has maintained throughout that she is not in violation of party rules, pointing to the commissioned outside review that found she filed before a challenger had formally entered — and therefore no “other Republican had filed” at the moment of her candidacy. Supporters like State Sen. Townsend have backed that interpretation, arguing Barela, as an incumbent, was not “challenging” anyone. Critics were unmoved, noting the rule contains no exceptions, no carve-outs for incumbents, and no escape clause for a two-minute head start
Meanwhile, the political damage has been substantial
The Republican Party of New Mexico fielded no candidates for U.S. Senate, state auditor, or state treasurer in 2026 — leaving the party relying on late-starting write-in hopefuls to even qualify for the general election ballot. Party infighting over Barela’s leadership has consumed oxygen that might otherwise have gone toward building a competitive statewide operation.
Three Republicans have announced their candidacy to replace Barela as chair should the courts rule against her: Aragon himself, KKOB talk radio host Brandon Vogt, and John Brenna, a retired law enforcement officer who currently chairs the Valencia County Republican Party.
The June 2, 2026 primary looms. Whatever the courts decide, Jonathan Emery — military veteran, deputy, public servant — will be on the ballot. The man who built a career on the belief that rules exist for a reason is now asking a judge to make Barela follow them.
