NM GOP rift over chairwoman spills into court with days before primary - Patrcik Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A New Mexico judge on Thursday considered arguments from Republicans on both sides of a widening intra-party divide in a case that could oust the state party chairwoman from her post with fewer than two weeks before the June 2 primary.
Republican primary candidates filed the lawsuit April 30, alleging that Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela violated party rules when she continued to serve as chair while running for re-election in a contested primary for her Otero County Commission seat.
The plaintiffs — gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez, lieutenant governor candidate Aubrey Blair Dunn and Barela’s primary opponent Jonathen Emery — also allege Barela and other Republican Party of New Mexico officials have used party resources to implicitly endorse other Republican candidates, which the plaintiffs say is unfair and also violates party rules.
Gary Mitchell, the plaintiffs’ attorney, urged Thirteenth Judicial District Judge Cindy Mercer to issue a preliminary injunction that would remove Barela as chair, as well as order the party not to endorse candidates during the primary. He said Barela and other party officials clearly violated the rules.
“A tortured interpretation of these rules betrays the intent of the rules. The intent of the rules is simple and straightforward,” he said. “It is to make certain that in a primary the party itself and the party officials do not put their fingers on the scales.”
RPNM attorney Carter Harrison conceded at the end of the hearing Thursday that the rule regarding whether Barela can serve as both party chairwoman and candidate is “ambiguous,” but he detailed what he described as good-faith efforts by the party to come to a resolution and find an interpretation of the law.
He also said the courts should have no say in how political parties handle their own members and rules, saying a judicial order that removed Barela or declared that the party violated its rules would violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by intervening in a political party’s right to freely associate and conduct political speech. He said more than 50 years of case law back up that assertion.
“We’re very passionate that the decision has to be made within the party and subject to the procedural opportunities that exist within the party,” he said. “It’s not for the government, including a court, to make.”
Barela did not testify.
Mercer told the parties gathered at the video hearing Thursday that she would consider the arguments and issue a ruling as soon as possible.
Harrison noted that the removal of the party chair near the crescendo of a months-long primary race would force the party to hold a vote to replace her with little time.
RPNM Executive Director Leticia Muñoz-Kaminski, during her testimony, said it would be “very difficult” to replace Barela before the primary, though she later told Mercer that the party’s vice chair would be in charge of the party during the interim. According to court records, the RPNM’s first vice chair is Mike Nelson.
The case Mercer heard Thursday is one of two that seeks to remove Barela from her post. Plaintiffs in the second case comprise a group of Republican county party chairs who say Barela is illegally serving as chair. That case was also scheduled to be heard Thursday, but it was canceled, according to court records.
Cesar Chávez's name stripped from Las Cruces school - Algernon D’Ammassa, Albuquerque Journal
The home of the Coyotitos will have a new school name effective July 1, after the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education voted to rebrand César Chávez Elementary School on Tuesday.
The school board passed over East Mesa and other names before unanimously declaring the school, which teaches pre-kindergarten through second grade, will be known as Desert Bloom Elementary.
The move followed revelations in March that the iconic labor organizer and civil rights leader allegedly raped and assaulted women and underage girls. After a New York Times report identified sexual abuse allegations, New Mexico native Dolores Huerta, who jointly founded the National Farmworkers Association with Chávez, declared that he had coerced her into sex that conceived children who were later raised by other families — a secret Huerta kept for six decades.
The city of Albuquerque swiftly announced plans to rededicate streets, murals and buildings that memorialized Chávez. Santa Fe Public Schools immediately obscured his name from a school marquee.
In Las Cruces, the school board moved more slowly, although a majority indicated from the outset that the name would have to change. A majority of speakers who participated in an April town hall leaned against changing the name. Some expressed lingering resentment over the 2020 rebranding of Oñate High School, swapping the name of the historic conquistador for Organ Mountain High.
LCPS Superintendent Ignacio Ruiz told the board last month that out of 55 email comments the district had received, 38, or 69%, favored changing the elementary school’s name.
“Our priority has been to approach this matter thoughtfully, deliberately and with respect for our community,” Ruiz told the board.
The five-member body unanimously voted to remove Chávez’s name on April 21.
“Girls who enter … Las Cruces Public Schools should know that we do not have a school named after a sexual predator,” board member Bob Wofford said.
His colleague, Teresa Tenorio, added: “The message is also for little boys as well.”
On Tuesday, district staff presented the board with an informal slate of prospective names developed through discussions among the school’s students and families, staff and administration — over 100 people in all. Names making reference to the local landscape and mountain ranges were popular, with Sunset Elementary the top pick among students and families while staff and leadership favored Desert Bloom.
Before approving Desert Bloom as the name on a unanimous vote, Board Secretary Patrick Nolan quickly did research on his mobile phone to confirm the name did not match that of a local cannabis dispensary.
A preliminary analysis Ruiz presented to the board last month put the cost at around $12,000, including changing the school marquee and lettering on the building as well as other items with school branding, submission of the name change to the state Public Education Department and processes within the district.
A ceremony formalizing the new name is planned for July 1 at the school.
City Council passes $1.47 billion budget after juggling priorities - Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal
Is the glass half-full? Or half-empty?
Mayor Tim Keller’s office says he and the City Council have a difference of perspective over how much money the city of Albuquerque should spend next year.
Keller said his proposed budget followed the pessimistic economic forecast, which assumes unpredictable funding and national economic headwinds. The council took the optimistic approach in its budget substitute, Keller said, by allocating $11.8 million more, mostly to raise city worker pay.
The council approved its version of the $1.47 billion budget this week on a 7-2 vote. Councilors Dan Lewis and Brook Bassan voted against it.
In all, the council signed off on about $882 million in general fund appropriations for the fiscal year that begins July 1, around $23 million, or 2.6%, more than fiscal year 2026 and about $7 million more than in Keller’s proposed 2027 budget.
The general fund, fueled primarily by gross receipts tax dollars, covers most basic city services, such as law enforcement and park maintenance.
The majority of the disputed $11.8 million, which makes up 1% of the general fund appropriations, was put toward city employee raises, with $4.5 million for a 1% cost-of-living increase and $3.7 million toward compensation adjustments. The leftover $3.6 million was used for other priorities, including traffic safety projects.
Councilor Renee Grout, who drafted the approved budget, said councilors achieved their No. 1 goal: employee salaries.
“And then we also listened to constituents, and we increased funding where we heard people were concerned about — open space, animal welfare, solid waste, libraries, BioPark and transit,” Grout said.
Keller said the council’s amendments fixed “some major issues” in its original plan — including restoring funding the council had initially removed from traffic safety projects and halfway funding a diversion program to address those jailed in city code violations.
“Everything about this year's budget is the normal budget argument, that's I think what is healthy,” he said. “The challenge is, for the first time in a long time, the forecast doesn't look good.”
The approved total budget, which came in lower than the $1.5 billion 2026 budget, marked the first year the city’s budget has declined since 2024. In Keller’s proposed budget, city operating funds decreased by $35 million amid the challenges of inflation, higher healthcare costs and federal funding cuts.
To make those cuts, Keller’s proposed budget eliminated or deactivated 247 positions, many of which were restored by councilors in their budget substitute. Councilors also restored some funding to several public-facing departments, like transit, animal welfare and parks and recreation, that saw decreases in Keller’s proposed budget.
Councilors left many of the biggest budget items untouched, like the Albuquerque Police Department and Fire and Rescue, which made up 32% and 16% of the general fund appropriations and saw a 2% and 4% bump, respectively.
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn said she was “continually dismayed” by the amount put into the larger departments while others faced cuts.
“We are always willing to cut transit, we are always willing to cut parks and recreation and open space,” she said. “These are also really important departments in our city, but we continue to just put more and more and more money into APD, and I just wonder at what point we're going to stop doing that.”
Fiebelkorn saw the process as a “give and take” and she was happy the council could restore funding for transit, open space and animal welfare, the last of which saved six positions and covered the stray cat trap and neuter program.
“I didn't get everything I wanted, but neither did anyone else, and I think that's to be expected when there are nine councilors and a mayor vying for resources,” she said. “This year, we had very limited resources, so I think the juggling of priorities was harder this year than in past years.”
The City Council’s substitute budget was passed with $1.5 million in funding cuts to housing vouchers, one of the larger changes to Keller’s proposed budget. During Monday’s meeting, councilors passed more than a dozen amendments, including one clarifying the voucher cut and others funding priorities in their districts and addressing public concerns.
An amendment sponsored by Grout, Fiebelkorn and Joaquín Baca restored $200,000 of the requested $400,000 to a diversion program tailored to the unhoused. Another addressed concerns over voucher cuts, clarifying that 2026 vouchers were not fully expended and if they run out mid-year “will be prioritized by the Council.”
Another amendment undid council funding cuts to Vision Zero, allowing for millions to be made available for a list of projects like pedestrian crossing signals and a road diet on Lomas Boulevard, among others.
Lewis said in a statement that he supported the amendments that gave raises to city employees and eliminated proposed fee increases, like a fee Keller had proposed for providing stormwater services.
“I could not support the final budget because it will only increase projected deficits in future years,” he said. “This budget is filled with extravagant spending on the mayor’s pet projects and programs that have shown no measurable results in addressing the city’s crime, homelessness, and economic challenges.”
‘The most optimistic view’
While the budget was largely buttoned up Monday night, the $11.8 million remained a sticking point.
Keller said the budget passed by council was “built on shaky ground” with assumptions on fund balances and an uncertain revenue forecast.
“They essentially took the most optimistic view,” he said.
Keller said he was concerned that in a few months’ time the city may have to go back and make major revisions, including budget cuts and addressing fund balance issues.
“Knock on wood, hopefully we won't,” he said.
Grout said council staff found the $11.8 million “discrepancy” in Keller’s proposed budget and, initially, thought it was a mistake. She said they checked with the state Department of Finance and Administration, which told them the council’s assumption that the $11.8 million was available “was reasonable.”
Grout said the disagreement over the funding made for one of the most challenging budget processes she has been a part of.
“I don't want to say anything that's negative. I will just say that we have a really good budget staff. I can't say the same for the administration staff,” she said. Grout said the administration’s staff was “not very forthcoming” and sent budget changes to council after already releasing the proposed budget, including additional revenue sources from fees related to solid waste and stormwater services.
Both sides said they had spoken with DFA over the issue.
Grout said the DFA has to approve the budget and “if they say ‘oh there’s a problem,’ then we’ll have to come back and fix it, but we don’t think there is a problem.”
Keller said, although the move may come to bite them later, he would be less worried if council hadn’t put the funds toward recurring appropriations like salaries. The administration, he said, at best views the funding as “one-time money.”
“I think they did meet us halfway, in a sense that no one is arguing what to do if we have extra money,” he said, referring to the raises for city workers. Keller said he would have preferred the reverse, to wait until the numbers for the rest of this fiscal year bear out before using any extra money.
“It was not common for the mayor to have a more conservative budget than council, but I think it's because we're worried about the actual checkbook, and I think they're still looking through overly rose-colored glasses," he said. "And that's ironic, because that's what they've said about me for the last eight years.”
Report: New Mexico shelled out $520 million in tax incentives — and got little in return - Gregory R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico did not get much bang for its buck after spending $520 million on economic development tax breaks in fiscal year 2025, according to a Legislative Finance Committee analysis released this week.
“The overarching headline from this work is that tax incentives do not pay for themselves,” Legislative Finance Committee economist Brendon Gray said during a committee meeting Tuesday in Albuquerque. Fiscal 2025 ran from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.
The modest return on investment for more than 20 types of economic-focused tax breaks — they generated 1.4 cents for every dollar spent — prompted some lawmakers to call for a more regular review of their effectiveness, even amid an ongoing state revenue bonanza.
“I happen to think that these tax incentives, in general, are very helpful for economic development,” Rep. Meredith Dixon, D-Albuquerque, said, “…but I do think that this report highlights the areas that we could perhaps strengthen and improve.”
Economic development tax expenditures are targeted tax exemptions, deductions and credits intended to incentivize economic activity. They include the state’s film tax credit and the Local Economic Development Act incentive.
The state Taxation and Revenue Department has issued an annual report on all state tax expenditures every year since 2012, but those reports typically provide only limited analysis of their effectiveness.
New Mexico economist Kelly O’Donnell said these tax expenditures never generate the level of economic activity that would be necessary to offset public sector costs.
“That said, New Mexico has to compete with other states for recruiting businesses and all the other states are employing a variety of incentives, including tax expenditures to recruit businesses,” she said.
According to the LFC, the state spent $176 million on tax breaks in FY25 that had a negative economic return on investment — the amount spent to grow the economy was more than the economic growth that resulted.
For example, the state’s investment credit for manufacturers resulted in a 139% return on investment — the highest of the expenditures — meaning that for every $1 spent, New Mexico’s economy grew by $1.39.
But the Small Business Saturday reduction, which allows small businesses to deduct certain gross receipts from their taxes, had a -86% economic return on investment, meaning that for every $1 spent, the state economy shrank by 86 cents.
“For every dollar they spent, it cost us 86 cents,” said Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, vice chair of the LFC. “Those are actual costs, not deduction(s) or revenue generators for the state.”
New Mexico’s economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew 1.4% as a result of the more than half a billion dollars that were committed to the 24 tax exemptions, deductions, credits and other benefits for businesses, according to the report.
“That means for every $1 we invested, the economy grew by one penny on top of that,” Gray said. “So it’s positive, but it’s relatively small.”
Over the past five years, the state spent $1.7 billion on these tax incentives, which is about 3% of the general fund revenue, Gray said.
The report also notes that across the 24 expenditures, on average, the cost per job — calculated as the average nominal cost of the expenditure divided by the average employment impact — is $137,000 per year. That is over 10 times the amount of a job created through the state’s Job Training Incentive Program, which underwrites certain new positions.
The report said that some “cost-per-job estimates are very high because the expenditures are estimated to support almost no new job growth.” But Gray, in his presentation to lawmakers, said not all tax expenditures are designed to create jobs.
“Job creation is the primary mechanism that we have to increase wages and grow per capita personal income,” he said. “So this is an important metric that we’re focused on.”
None of the 24 tax expenditures brought in more money than what the state put in. Furthermore, none of the tax breaks met all six standards considered to be best practices, with most lacking the expiration dates and spending caps that protect state revenues, the report states.
The report included several recommendations for the Legislature to consider to bolster greater returns for the state’s investments. This includes prioritizing expenditures with higher economic returns and limiting or restructuring expenditures with low or negative economic returns.
Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, said during Tuesday’s meeting that he is drafting a bill that would create an index ranking the tax expenditures based on several factors or questions, like: How much money was spent for these incentives and do the reductions meet the purpose that lawmakers had intended?
“It’s sort of like a hodgepodge, a hit-and-miss and a whack-a-mole, if you will, to determine what incentive credit or deduction is working and which ones aren’t,” Padilla said in a phone interview. “But this would treat all of them fairly. They all would be measured equally, and they would have to perform.
“If they don’t perform, they would be sunsetted and no longer exist, and (the state) would take those dollars and put them in the places where we know they are working for New Mexico.”
Gray told Padilla his idea is “something that we’d like to build and work toward.”
“We’re not always going to have these dollars for all these incentives, credits and deductions,” Padilla said. “We need to use our dollars wisely. And again, developing an index that requires you to perform with that incentive, credit or deduction is the best way to approach it, I think.”
What to know the mysterious deaths in New Mexico linked to unknown substance - By Savannah Peters and Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Investigators in New Mexico are trying to identify a mysterious substance that may have contributed to the deaths of three people and led to more than a dozen first responders being briefly quarantined.
Two people remained in a hospital Thursday, including a person who was found unresponsive in a home where the three died east of Albuquerque, in the rural town of Mountainair.
Authorities went to the home Wednesday after being called about a suspected drug overdose.
Some first responders began coughing, vomiting and experiencing dizziness, authorities said. As a result, medical workers checked nearly two dozen people who may have come into contact with the substance, the University of New Mexico Hospital said.
It was not clear what the substance was, how the people in the home died, what caused some first responders to become sick or exactly how many experienced symptoms. Autopsies will be conducted and authorities said they were testing to determine what substances were in the home.
Here's what to know about deaths and the investigation.
First responders were decontaminated
Antonette Alguire, a volunteer firefighter in Mountainair, said Wednesday that she saw some EMTs and firefighters coughing, and vomiting after they were outside the house.
Medical workers decontaminated nearly two dozen people, most of them first responders, the University of New Mexico Hospital said. Most of the people had no symptoms, hospital officials said.
Three people were admitted to the hospital Wednesday. One — an emergency medical services official — has since been released, the mayor of Mountainair said Thursday.
Audio reveals some at the home weren't breathing
Audio archives from the Torrance County Fire Dispatch channel on the site Broadcastify reveal that dispatchers went to the home Wednesday morning, responding to a report of a 60-year-old man who was unconscious but breathing. It was unclear who had made the report.
Within minutes, a dispatcher is heard saying there were three people at the home and two might not be breathing. Then came a call for naloxone, the opioid-overdose antidote.
One person was revived using naloxone, which only reverses overdoses in people who have opiates in their systems, Torrance County Undersheriff Stephanie Reynolds said.
Less than an hour after the initial call, the dispatch center relays that there have been multiple exposures, but there's no clarity about what substance they were exposed to at the house.
Drugs were found in New Mexico home
Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto said he spotted drugs at the home, but did not say what type of drugs.
He dismissed carbon monoxide or natural gas exposure as possible causes for the health issues that the first responders experienced.
New Mexico State Police spokesperson Wilson Silver said there was no threat to the public and that investigators do not believe the mysterious substance was airborne.
New Mexico has a high number of overdoses
New Mexico had the fourth-highest rate of drug overdose deaths of any U.S. state in 2024, with 775 deaths, according to the most recent data available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Residents around Mountainair, a town with less than 1,000 people, have voiced frustration about drug use in the community and elsewhere.
The mayor posted on social media that the town's law enforcement officers and first responders work daily to protect the community and respond to difficult situations.
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Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque. Associated Press writers Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.