Embattled state GOP chairwoman loses party job, then bid for reelection - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Just days after a judge ordered her to step down as New Mexico Republican Party chairwoman, Amy Barela suffered a different kind of defeat.
The incumbent was ousted this week from the Otero County Commission by primary election challenger Jonathan Emery, losing by a narrow 46-vote margin in a race that featured more than 1,700 total votes.
"The people spoke — and that's the way it works," Barela said during a brief Thursday interview.
It's unclear how her defeat could affect the state Republican Party's appeal of last week's ruling by District Judge Cindy Mercer of Los Lunas, which found sufficient evidence exists to conclude Barela violated a GOP rule dealing with party officials who face primary election opposition while running for public office.
The judge's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Emery, along with two other Republican candidates. They alleged several GOP officials — including Barela, party treasurer Kim Skaggs and GOP National Committeeman James Townsend, who is also a state senator — violated party rules by picking sides in contested primary races.
Thursday, Barela did not elaborate on the impact of her defeat on the state Republican Party's appeal, saying simply, "everything's pending."
Meanwhile, the state GOP's executive director did not respond to questions about what Barela's defeat meant for the party's appeal — and the possibility of her staying on as chairwoman.
However, attorney Gary Mitchell, who's representing Emery and the other plaintiffs in their lawsuit, argued in a court filing this week that Barela should not be allowed to remain in her post as party chairwoman pending the appeal's resolution.
"Whether she validly holds that office is not resolved by the primary, and decisions she makes purporting to act as chair — over candidate processes, party governance, and the like — will carry consequences extending into the general election cycle," Mitchell wrote in his filing.
While the Supreme Court appeal plays out, a group of Republican Party county leaders is pushing to convene a state central committee meeting to elect a new GOP chair.
Robert Aragon, an attorney and GOP state central committee member, sent a letter to state Republican Party 2nd Vice Chair Robert Nelson after last week's ruling asking for a meeting to be called within 30 days.
While Aragon said Thursday he has not yet received a response, he said any attempt to have Barela stay on as party chairwoman will not get the necessary votes to succeed.
"RPNM needs the reforms this effort is attempting to achieve," said Aragon, who also filed a lawsuit last month seeking to have Barela removed. That lawsuit was dismissed after the judge's ruling in the other case.
Despite her election night defeat, Barela could stay on as Otero County commissioner in southern New Mexico until her term expires at the end of this year.
The three-member commission has drawn scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and state Attorney General Raúl Torrez for extending a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue holding immigrant detainees at a detention center in Chaparral.
The five-year contract extension was adopted two months before the enactment of a new state law aimed at barring such local government agreements with ICE.
Federal appeals court dismisses NM Cattle Growers’ lawsuit over sniping feral cattle in the Gila - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
A federal appeals court this week dismissed a 2023 legal challenge by the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association over the U.S. Forest Service practice of aerial shooting feral cattle in the Gila wilderness.
The June 3 U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit ruling notes that the cows are mostly eradicated from the Gila National Forest — and the federal government has directed staff to try and capture any stragglers rather than shoot them — making the yearslong legal fight moot.
“There is no reasonable expectation the Forest Service will resume aerial shooting of the Gila cattle,” the order stated.
As part of the dismissal, the court overturned a lower federal district court’s order that upheld the government’s authority to remove the cattle by shooting them from a helicopter because it said the feral cows no longer qualified as domestic livestock.
The problem of feral cattle — or previously domestic herds that have returned to a wild state — has been a longstanding concern in the Gila, prompting outcry over animal welfare, endangered species and land use.
Over the years, 756 cattle were removed (dead or alive) from the Gila Wilderness, the Forest Service said in a 2022 news release. Of those cattle, only one cow captured in 1998 had branding indicating it had been part of a domestic herd.
Between 2022 and 2023, a special team of federal officials sniped a total of 84 cattle from a helicopter on public lands, over legal objections from the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association.
Only an estimated 10-20 cattle remain, according to 2024 court documents.
Parties on opposite sides of the case — the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association and the Center for Biological Diversity, which argued that the culling of the cows protects fragile wildlife and endangered species — both declared victory from the dismissal.
New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association President Tom Paterson told Source NM the dismissal of the lower court’s order is a win, and cited the lawsuit’s pressure on federal officials to halt the practice.
“I think that the overarching point is that the likelihood of the Forest Service ever engaging in aerial removal, not just the Gila, but across the West, is pretty minimal,” Paterson said. “Leastways, I hope so.”
Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the U.S. Forest Service was right to remove the feral cattle and argued that federal officials maintain the authority to do so in the future.
“The livestock industry’s sham lawsuit was a waste of time and money. With cows gone, these wild streamside habitats are finally recovering, which is wonderful news for endangered species,” Schulke said.
New Mexico officials urge federal action after confirmed New World Screwworm case in Texas - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico officials called on federal officials to do more to protect the state’s livestock and wildlife in the wake of the first confirmed case of a parasitic fly in neighboring Texas Wednesday — the first incursion of New World screwworm in the U.S. in decades.
The parasitic fly was detected in a 3-week old calf, and there have been no other detections in the U.S. so far.
The pest is named for the maggot’s behavior of burrowing into flesh and causing serious or fatal wounds in animals. Last year, it advanced northward through Mexico after being mainly contained in Central America for several decades. Before U.S. officials declared the fly eradicated in 1966, the wounds from the parasites would kill wild and domestic animals, costing up to hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a statement to Source NM, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) said the case in La Pryor, Texas, which is about 500 miles from the New Mexico state line, poses “a major risk to cattle operations in New Mexico and if spread, could wreak havoc on domestic beef prices.”
Vasquez also noted that he and others have been “asking USDA for clear guidance for this very moment and urging the agency to speed up its timeline to finish the sterile fly facility we approved many months ago.” Now, he noted, “We must take immediate action now to prevent further spread.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement Wednesday it would deploy a specialized team to partner with Texas agriculture officials; establish additional surveillance and quarantine procedures within in a 12-mile radius; and deploy more “sterilized flies” — males that have been irradiated and can no longer reproduce — to try and prevent spread.
New Mexico officials launched a one-stop website in mid-May to track potential New World screwworm cases in the state, offer resources for identifying the fly and the best contacts if an infestation is spotted.
Samantha Holeck, state veterinarian with the New Mexico Livestock Board, said the state is taking an “all-hands-on-deck approach” to provide outreach and education to animal shelters, ranchers and hunters to identify the pest.
“The nationwide shortage of veterinarians makes this a challenge,” she told Source NM “So it’s people that are out there every day – not just the livestock industry, but animal shelters, rescues — they’re gonna be our first line of detection if they’re seeing animals that are affected and reporting it promptly.”
Holeck said New Mexico will offer any support to Texas agriculture officials and watch the response closely to determine the best surveillance and treatment steps.
“We’ve worked hard to prepare these plans and now it’ll be time to test them,” she said.
Assistant city attorney in Santa Fe charged with child abuse - John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
An assistant attorney for the city of Santa Fe has been charged with child abuse related to a 2023 incident in which he allegedly physically abused his teenage stepson, who later died by suicide.
A criminal complaint filed Monday in Santa Fe Magistrate Court charges 49-year-old Kevin Nault with abuse of a child, a third-degree felony, alleging he physically restrained his 13-year-old stepson on the floor of their home for roughly 20 minutes in 2023 during a dispute over a water bottle.
According to a statement of probable cause, Nault told Santa Fe Police Department investigators who looked into the incident in August of that year that he had placed the teen in a "bear hug" restraint after his stepson refused to hand him a water bottle and complete chores his mother asked of him before she left the house to run errands.
Nault, whose 4-year-old biological son was present during the incident, also claimed he felt threatened after the teen pushed a glass bottle onto the family's kitchen floor, shattering it.
Investigators noted that Nault is 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighing approximately 320 pounds, while his stepson was 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed around 90 pounds.
Once the two were on the ground, Nault said the teen bit, scratched, kicked and attempted to headbutt him. While investigators found scratches and bite marks on Nault's body, they also observed in photographs "visible bruising injuries" to the boy's eye and arms, conflicting with the man's account of the incident, according to court documents.
The teen said Nault pinned him to the ground, restricting his breathing, and hit him repeatedly in the face with an open hand before locking him in his room, court documents say.
The 13-year-old told his therapist that Nault had subjected him to an "ongoing pattern of emotional abuse."
According to social media posts by the boy's father, the case was recently reopened at his urging. The posts state the teen killed himself in February 2024.
Ben Valdez, interim chief of Santa Fe Police, told the Journal on Wednesday that an administrative investigation into the handling of the incident was completed in March 2024 in response to "a complaint from a community member."
The same community member contacted Santa Fe Mayor Michael Garcia and police again this March "to express concerns on how the incident was handled and to share more information."
"A review of the administrative investigation and the original criminal case was completed, and SFPD leadership determined there was sufficient reason to investigate further," Valdez added. "The Special Victims Unit was assigned to complete a full and thorough investigation and found probable cause to charge Kevin Nault with Abuse of a Child. Charges were filed and the case has been submitted to the 1st Judicial District Attorney's Office for review."
Nault was placed on administrative leave Wednesday, according to city spokesperson Peter Olson.
New Mexico's AG files suit against sports betting firm Kalshi - Olivier Uttyebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit Thursday against New York-based prediction market company Kalshi Inc., alleging the company's sports-betting app functions as a sportsbook in violation of state gambling laws.
The new state lawsuit follows a federal suit filed in May by three New Mexico pueblos and the Mescalero Apache Tribe, alleging Kalshi offers sports betting on tribal lands in violation of federal gambling laws and state-tribal compacts.
The two lawsuits add to a growing list of legal actions nationwide that pit states and tribes against sports-wagering platforms for control of gambling within their jurisdictions.
In similar lawsuits across the U.S., Kalshi has argued that its sports betting contracts are futures trading contracts regulated under the federal Commodity Exchange Act, which preempts state gambling laws and the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Kalshi did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment about the New Mexico Department of Justice lawsuit.
Kalshi is a contract market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Prediction markets have surged in popularity in recent years, with sites like Polymarket and Kalshi drawing millions of users wagering on everything from sporting events to the Academy Awards.
The NMDOJ lawsuit alleges that Kalshi deceptively offers sports betting under the guise of a prediction market, allowing New Mexicans to place bets on sporting events such as the ongoing NBA finals and the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
"Despite looking like a sportsbook, acting like a sportsbook, and proverbially quacking like a sportsbook, neither Kalshi nor any of its subsidiaries have sought licensure from New Mexico's Gaming Control Board" or abide by the state's gambling laws, the suit alleges.
The lawsuit, filed in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, asks a judge to find Kalshi in violation of the state Gaming Control Act and bar the firm from offering sports betting in New Mexico. It names as defendants Kalshi Inc. and Kalshiex LLC.
Torrez said in a statement issued Thursday that New Mexico has a "carefully balanced system" for regulating gambling that protects consumers and tribal sovereignty.
“The only lawful gaming in New Mexico operates either under tribal-state gaming compacts, or under strict state regulations to ensure honest gaming free from corruption, and licenses gaming operators only after they explain how they plan to address compulsive gambling," Torrez said.
"Kalshi has ignored that framework entirely while offering online sports betting within the state," he said. "We are filing this lawsuit to protect the integrity of our laws, our regulatory system, and most importantly, consumers.”
The suit also alleges that the Kalshi app allows anyone 18 and older to place sports bets in violation of the state Gaming Control Act, which prohibits gambling by people under 21.
The Mescalero Apache Tribe and Sandia, Isleta and Pojoaque pueblos filed a lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque alleging that Kalshi operates illegal gambling on tribal lands in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and New Mexico's tribal compacts.
The tribes argue that prediction markets divert revenue from tribal governments and encourage underage gambling. Three California tribes filed a similar federal lawsuit last year against Kalshi.
Kalshi has argued that the tribes are improperly using the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act “to attempt to regulate trading on an exchange operated from thousands of miles away” under the purview of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The New Mexico lawsuits are part of a growing nationwide legal battle over the activities of companies like Kalshi and Polymarket that operate prediction markets that allow people to wager on real-world events.
Rhode Island this week became the seventh state sued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice over state regulation of prediction markets. Others include Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin.
Minnesota recently enacted a law, effective Aug. 1, that bans prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket from operating within the state.
Both firms have filed federal lawsuits against Minnesota seeking to block the law.
Quay County declares disaster after wildfires scorch 30,000 acres - Ron Warnick, Eastern New Mexico News
The Quay County Commission has approved a resolution declaring a disaster after wildfires last month burned more than 30,000 acres near Nara Visa.
Presented by Emergency Manager Bill Kardokus, the resolution aims to facilitate state aid to ranchers and others affected by the fires.
The fires prompted evacuation requests for the northeastern Quay County village, though no damage was reported there.
The fires scorched tens of thousands of acres of pasture. About 30 cattle died, according to a local fire official.
Though rain had fallen overnight before the commission meeting, County Fire Marshal Lucas Bugg reiterated that a state and county burn ban remains in effect.
Bugg pointed out that little to no rain fell east of Bard to the Texas state line during the storm overnight.
He said he appreciated the efforts of county officials and local firefighters in fighting blazes in the region.
Wildfires have burned more than 40,000 acres in Quay County since February because of drought conditions.
NM Health Care Authority announces $76M in federal rural healthcare funds - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Health Care Authority on Wednesday announced it would soon distribute about one-third of the federal funding it recently received through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to address shortfalls in rural healthcare in the state.
The authority will provide $76.2 million to six “regional hub organizations” that help communities implement rural healthcare projects as part of its Health Horizons program.
When fully implemented, the program aims to reduce long wait times, chronic disease risk factors and readmission rates to rural hospitals — all problems that plague roughly one-third of New Mexicans who live in rural areas.
The funding recipients won’t provide care directly, according to the Health Care Authority, but instead will try to increase virtual consultations, especially for specialty and maternal care, as well as expand the use of rotational clinics in areas lacking healthcare access..
New Mexico and all other states applied for and received funding from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” last November as part of the federal Rural Health Transformation Fund. The state received a little more than $211 million, which is the 13th highest amount in the country.
The state’s application noted that 26 of New Mexico’s 33 counties are rural, and their residents tend to have higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease than their urban counterparts, while often being forced to travel between 50 and 100 miles for basic healthcare services.
Eight of 27 rural New Mexico hospitals risk closing, according to a 2025 analysis the application cited, with four facing “immediate risk [of closure] absent intervention.” Four other federally qualified health centers have closed in recent years, as well.
The Healthy Horizons is one of five initiatives for which the state received federal funding. Others aim to increase the number of community health programs; train more healthcare workers; reduce financial strain on hospitals; and establish a rural health data-sharing platform.
Despite the new wave of federal funding totaling $50 billion over the next five years, independent estimates show the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will cut rural Medicaid spending overall by $137 billion over the next decade, including $3.54 billion in New Mexico.
Elisa Wrede, the HCA’s acting rural health director, was not available for an interview with Source NM this week, according to a spokesperson, though she said in a statement Wednesday that the Health Care Authority is “investing in regional partners who can bring providers, Tribal health programs, community organizations, public health leaders, and others together to improve access to care in practical ways.”
Applications for the funding, which will be distributed to each regional hub based on healthcare need and readiness, are due by July 2, according to the authority. Recipients must use at least 90% of the funding to support local healthcare projects.