Attendees of the Donald Trump rally on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024 in Albuquerque. Some hopefuls to lead the New Mexico Republican Party say they want to model the President-elect’s approach to electoral victory. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
The New Mexico Republican Party is seeking a new leader after its chairman Steve Pearce announced this week he would not seek reelection.
After six years as the face of New Mexico’s opposition party, Pearce, a former U.S. representative and gubernatorial candidate, will no longer lead the party. The news was first reported by the Albuquerque Journal.
Six people are vying to replace him.
They are Amy Barela, an Otero County commissioner; John Brenna, the Valencia County Republican Party Executive Committee chairman; Robert Kwasny, who lost the GOP primary for Bernalillo County Clerk; Mark Murton, a former Army officer and former manager at Sandia National Laboratories; Mick Rich who previously ran for the U.S. Senate; and District 29 state Sen. Joshua Sanchez.
Republican party members will elect their new leader, along with other party officials, on Dec. 7 at the 2024 Biennial Convention.
In interviews with Source New Mexico on Wednesday, three candidates to lead the state GOP were careful to remain diplomatic in their critiques of Pearce’s leadership but acknowledged they must do something different if they want to gain power in the state.
Barela, the party’s vice-chair, positioned herself as the only candidate with expertise in its structure and rules.
She said she has an “aggressive plan” to flip New Mexico red by registering more voters and building the party from the bottom up.
Statewide, the Democratic Party takes the largest slice of those registered at 42%, while Republicans account for about one-third of the electorate. A quarter of voters decline to state any party affiliation, Libertarians make up just more than 1% and all other parties are just less than 1% combined.
“We just need to increase our voter registration drives, and be where we’re not,” Barela said.
Rich, a construction contractor who ran twice for the U.S. Senate, said Republicans need to unify across geographic and economic divides, and broaden their voting base.
“A Republican that can win in the southeast, or in northwest New Mexico, can’t win in the Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “We’ve got to recognize that we’re going to support the Republicans that may not be just like us, but we have the same basic goals, and the same beliefs.”
Rich cited his experience as a private contractor working with other companies on complex projects makes him able to bring people together.
“The goal is to save our state, to turn it around,” he said. “We’ve got to put aside our differences.”
Reached for comment on Wednesday Murton, said he was making numerous phone calls to connect with supporters and couldn’t do an interview until next week.
“I do have a vision,” Murton said. “We’ll see if it matters after the 7th, but even if it doesn’t, I’m workin’ at the Bernalillo County level to up our game a little bit, systematize things a little more.”
Voicemails and messages left for the three other GOP chair candidates on Wednesday went unreturned.
Republican performance in 2024
Republicans were able to gain two seats in the statehouse. One very close race for a spot in the House of Representatives is awaiting an automatic recount.
But the GOP remains the minority in the New Mexico state government. Democrats control the governor’s office and comfortable majorities in both legislative chambers.
Rich criticized the party’s performance in the 2024 elections, which he called “disappointing” and attributed to a lack of unity and effective leadership.
“Donald Trump did it, and we can do it,” Rich said. “We can’t keep doin’ it the way we’ve been doin’ it. ”
Barela said Pearce has grown momentum, putting New Mexico “closer than it’s ever been” to being controlled by Republicans.
“I hope to continue the momentum he built upon and strengthen it with the grassroots,” she said.
Following Pearce’s lead
Barela said she would carry on Pearce’s policy platform structure. She wants to make changes to the platform but said it would take working with newly elected officials.
She also wants to “adopt President Trump’s plan to make sure that we include all New Mexicans in progressing New Mexico.”
Rich praised Pearce’s fundraising and statewide candidate tours in 2018 but stressed the need for new strategies to win elections.
“By the end of the campaign, we were a team, we were supporting each other, we had each others’ backs,” he said of the 2018 race. “Every time there’s an election, we need to start that at the beginning, not the end.”
Breaking from Pearce
Barela said Republicans need the right messaging to convince New Mexicans they want to lower consumer prices and lift state regulations.
“I am more of a grassroots activist, and I think I reach the people and the counties well,” she said.
Rich said if elected as party chair, he plans to gain support for boosting the GOP in the state from Washington within six months, though he would not go into detail.
“It’s going to be something that would be good for all of New Mexico, for Republicans, and it would be good for the President,” he said.
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