Former Democratic Party of New Mexico official says party leaders broke rules to force her out

Former party secretary Brenda Hoskie, who is Navajo, alleges that, since early 2025, she has repeatedly voiced concerns to party leaders about discrimination, harassment and retaliation against Navajo members of the party. In a Facebook video earlier this year, for instance, she accuses party officials of telling her to “be a brown face in the photo, but not a strong voice at the table” and “to stay on my reservation.”

In the video, posted at the end of March, Hoskie said she was “being bullied to resign from my statewide position as secretary of the Democratic Party of New Mexico because I will not go along with how they run the part,” and said that she witnessed DPNM members refer to Indigenous people as “effing Navajos” and “stupid Indians” at party events.

She said that the party “recklessly mishandled” investigating reports of the alleged discrimination.

In the suit itself, Hoskie alleges DPNM Chair Sara Attleson and Executive Director Sean Ward booted her as secretary without following the party’s internal rules. According to the lawsuit, Attleson and Ward convened a Committee on Discipline meeting in May, for which Hoskie was absent, and subsequently sent an email on Aug. 7 to the party’s State Central Committee which said that the office of secretary had become vacant.

The lawsuit alleges that the party’s Committee on Discipline is not mentioned in the party’s internal rules and that the State Central Committee is supposed to handle disciplinary matters.

The lawsuit, filed in the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County, asks a judge to restore Hoskie to her position as party secretary.

A spokesperson for the state Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Infighting similarly plagued the Republican Party of New Mexico in the months leading up to this summer’s primary election.

Republican officials across the state accused Party Chair Amy Barela of violating party rules by staying in her post even though she was running against a fellow Republican in a contested primary and called on her to step down. A judge ultimately ordered Barela to resign as party chair and she lost her appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court.