A Republican Party activist is preparing to form an exploratory committee as he considers challenging U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., for the 1st Congressional District seat next year.
The potential challenger is Jon Barela, a former vice chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico and past president of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce. A fundraiser will be held Saturday to help raise money for the exploratory committee, according to an e-mail invitation sent on Tuesday by the host of the event, GOP activist Kevin Reid.
In the e-mail to his “close friends,” Reid wrote that he’s supporting Barela because of his conservative and commonsense values. Reid is asking people to commit $2,300 for the primary to allow Barela to form the exploratory committee.