Déjà Vu in Las Cruces: NM GOP Chair Vote Collapses Again, Race Now Heads to Albuquerque on July 26

Three meetings. Two failed quorums. Two lawsuits. One Supreme Court ruling. And still, the Republican Party of New Mexico does not have a permanent chair heading into a contested November election. Here is the full picture of how the party got here — and where it goes from the July 26 reassembly in Albuquerque.

The Spark: A Two-Minute Filing Gap

The crisis traces back to a single morning at an Otero County courthouse. On March 10, 2026, RPNM Chairwoman Amy Barela filed for re-election to her Otero County Commission seat at 9:06 a.m. Two minutes later, retired Otero County Sheriff’s deputy Jonathan Emery filed to challenge her for the same seat. That two-minute gap mattered because of RPNM’s Uniform State Rule 1-4-4, which requires a sitting state party officer to immediately vacate their post if another Republican has filed against them for public office. Barela did not step down. Instead, the party commissioned a third-party parliamentarian, Dallas-based Kay Allison Crews, who concluded in late March that because Barela filed first, the rule didn’t apply to her — a reading critics dismissed as legal hairsplitting designed to protect an incumbent.

Meeting One: Belen, April 18

Roughly 20 State Central Committee members, frustrated by the parliamentarian’s ruling, petitioned for a special meeting to declare the chairmanship vacant. It was a grassroots push, not an official call from party leadership, and RPNM’s executive director publicly dismissed it as a “coup.” When the day came, 247 of 537 members showed up — far short of the 362 needed for quorum at the time. Unable to act, the room passed a symbolic, non-binding resolution declaring Barela had already self-vacated the post. It carried no legal weight, but it set the stage for what came next: litigation.

The Courts Step In

With the SCC unable to resolve the dispute on its own, two separate lawsuits landed within days of each other in late April and early May. One, filed in Bernalillo County, came from a coalition of county party chairs. The other, filed in Otero County, came from Emery himself along with gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez and lieutenant governor candidate Aubrey Blair Dunn — both of whom argued Barela’s dual role as chair and candidate gave her primary opponents an unfair structural advantage. In late May, 13th Judicial District Judge Cindy Mercer sided with the plaintiffs, issuing a preliminary injunction barring Barela from continuing as chair and barring party officials from endorsing candidates in contested primaries. RPNM appealed, arguing the order infringed on members’ free speech rights. The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously denied that appeal on June 10, clearing the way for an actual chair election. Barela went on to lose her Otero County Commission primary to Emery on June 2 — leaving her free, ironically, to run for state chair instead.

Meeting Two: Las Cruces, June 20

This time, the meeting carried real institutional weight: it was officially called by RPNM 1st Vice Chair Mike Nelson under his authority as a party officer, not by member petition. The Southern & Rural New Mexico County Officers Coalition publicly backed the Las Cruces date and location over a rival proposal for an Albuquerque meeting the following week, citing travel costs and fairness to rural members. Five candidates filed to run, then four after one dropped out to avoid splitting the vote. But when the Secretary’s office tallied the room, only 79 members were present in person and 84 proxies had been filed — 163 combined, 195 short of the 358 now required out of 537 total members. Under Robert’s Rules of Order § 40-7, the SCC voted to reassemble rather than dissolve the meeting, setting July 26 at the Isleta Hotel and Convention Center in Albuquerque as the new date.

Who’s Running

• Amy Barela — The ousted former chair, now seeking to reclaim the post she was removed from by court order. She narrowly lost her Otero County Commission primary to Emery but remains a sitting commissioner through the end of her term.

• Robert Aragon — An Albuquerque attorney who filed the Bernalillo County lawsuit that helped force Barela’s removal, doing so without charging a fee. He has predicted in public remarks that litigation, not the SCC, would ultimately settle the chairmanship.

• Brandon Vogt — A KKOB talk radio host and Santa Fe County Republican who entered the race after publishing commentary arguing the party was “in a coma,” pointing to RPNM’s failure to field candidates for U.S. Senate, state auditor, or state treasurer in 2026.

• John Brenna — Valencia County GOP chair and a 32-year law enforcement and public service veteran. He has campaigned on fixing internal communication breakdowns and giving county parties a stronger voice.

• Zac Anaya (withdrew) — A Rio Rancho Republican who briefly entered the race, then dropped out days before the June 20 meeting to avoid splitting the anti-Barela vote among northern New Mexico members.

Who’s Been Behind It

• Mike Nelson, RPNM 1st Vice Chair, who used his officer authority to call the June 20 meeting after the Supreme Court cleared the way.

• Judge Cindy Mercer, whose injunction actually forced Barela from office after the SCC itself couldn’t.

• Leticia Muñoz, RPNM’s executive director, who has defended Barela throughout and characterized the removal effort as driven by “hate” and as “literally a coup.”

• The Southern & Rural New Mexico County Officers Coalition, which has fought to keep meetings in southern locations like Las Cruces and Belen over objections from Bernalillo County-aligned northern Republicans.

• Duke Rodriguez and Aubrey Blair Dunn, the gubernatorial and lieutenant governor candidates whose lawsuit added statewide campaign muscle to the push against Barela.

What to Expect at the Albuquerque Reassembly

July 26 is not a fresh call for a meeting — it’s a continuation of the June 20 session under the same authority, meaning the same four candidates are expected to remain on the ballot. The quorum bar doesn’t reset either: it’s still 358 of 537. The bigger question is turnout dynamics. Moving the meeting to Albuquerque, after rural members had specifically lobbied against an Albuquerque date, could either suppress turnout further from the southern/rural bloc or signal that the northern, urban-aligned faction is finally getting the home-field advantage it wanted. A third failed quorum would leave RPNM without a permanent chair deep into the general election season, with gubernatorial nominee Gregg Hull facing Democrat Deb Haaland and national Republicans already eyeing competitive U.S. House targets in the state. Regardless of outcome, whoever wins the gavel in Albuquerque should expect a short term: the SCC is already scheduled to meet again in December, after the general election, to elect chair leadership for the full two-year cycle.

Alamogordo Town News, KALHRadio.org and NewMexicoConservativeNews.com will continue tracking developments ahead of the July 26 meeting.

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