LAS CRUCES - When the New Mexico Senate convenes for a 60-day session next month, none of its majority leaders will be from southern New Mexico.
Mimi Stewart, a veteran legislator from Albuquerque, was nominated to be Senate president pro-tem. Peter Wirth of Santa Fe will return as majority leader. Linda Lopez of Albuquerque will be the new majority whip, and Brenda Grace McKenna of Corrales will be caucus chairwoman.
That’s quite a departure from past years, when members from southern New Mexico held the top positions in the Senate. Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces was president pro temp. from 2013 to the present. Before her, Tim Jennings of Roswell held the seat from 2008 to 2012, and Ben Altamirano of Silver City had it from 2005 to 2007.
Mary Jane Garcia of Doña Ana was majority whip for several of those years, while Lee Rawson of Las Cruces held the same position for Republicans. And John Arthur Smith of Deming was chairman of the most powerful committee, Finance.
“I think it’s natural to expect there will be a big difference,” said Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces. “Mary Kay had a strong interest in southern New Mexico. We won’t see that anymore.”
Papen was also a champion for mental health care. Stewart is a former educator who has been a strong advocate for public schools throughout her 25 years in the Legislature, starting in the House in 1995. She is certain to make education a top priority.
There were no changes in leadership for Democrats in the House of Representatives, meaning Doreen Gallegos of Las Cruces will return as majority whip. She will be the only majority leader from southern New Mexico.
“For me, it was really important to retain this position,” Gallegos said. “We have our Senate and House leadership both from (northern New Mexico). I think both of them are smart, talented people, but I want to make sure southern New Mexico has that loud voice to make them understand there are differences between here and up north. There are border issues, colonias, NMSU. We need to make sure we are participating in those conversations.”
Republican Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences was named minority caucus chair.
All of the leadership positions are picked in party caucus meetings before the start of the session except for speaker of the House and Senate president pro-tem, which are nominated by the party but then elected by a vote of all members. There is no question that Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, will be elected to return as speaker of the House. But the vote in the Senate has had a lot more intrigue in recent years.
Jennings was not the choice of the Democratic caucus in 2008 but won the seat by forging a coalition between Republicans and conservative Democrats. That coalition has held until this year, but local Democratic senators said they are confident the party will remain united in its backing of Stewart.
Republicans in the Senate also made leadership changes that will undoubtedly bring a difference in style and tactics. Stuart Ingle, a soft-spoken farmer from Portales who has served in the Senate since 1985, was replaced as minority floor leader by Gregory Baca, an attorney from Belen.
Craig Brandt of Rio Rancho will be minority whip and Mark Moores of Albuquerque will be caucus chair.
Along with Egolf and Gallegos, other leaders returning in the House are Sheryl Williams Stapleton of Albuquerque as majority floor leader and D. Wonda Johnson of Rehoboth as caucus leader.
James Townsend of Artesia will return as House minority leader and Rodney Montoya of Farmington as minority whip.
Committees
The most hotly contested race during the opening days of the Senate will be for chairman of the Finance Committee, a seat that has been held by Sen. Smith for longer than most members have been in the Senate.
“At least a half dozen senators would like to make that chairmanship,” Cervantes said.
George Munoz, D-Gallup, is the current vice chairman. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, is a committee member and one of the longest serving members of the Senate.
Along with taking the lead in preparing the budget each year, the Finance Committee also has the power to stop all spending bills before they reach the floor. Efforts during the past few years to tap into the permanent fund to boost early child education were blocked each time by Smith and the Finance Committee.
Finance won’t be the only open committee chairmanship in the Senate. The decision by Sen. Lopez to become majority whip creates a vacancy for chairman of the Rules Committee, which is charged with confirming all of the governor’s top-level appointments.
Lopez made headlines during the Susana Martinez administration by refusing to hold a confirmation hearing for former Education Secretary Hannah Skandera until Martinez’s second term.
There will also be openings in the Senate for chairs of Indian and Cultural Affairs, following the defeat of Gabriel Ramos, and Corporations and Transportation, following the defeat of Clemente Sanchez.
Cervantes was named chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee last year after the arrest and conviction of former chairman Richard Martinez, D-Española, on drunken driving charges. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, is chairman of the Education Committee.
All of the committee chairs are returning to the House. That may be bad news for southern New Mexico, given that none of the 14 committees has a chair from south of Albuquerque.
The biggest changes in the House will likely come in the powerful Appropriations and Finance Committee, which has lost three members, including Rudy Martinez of Silver City. Rep. Ray Lara, D-Chamberino, said he will try for one of those three open seats, but there is likely to be plenty of competition.
Egolf explained two years ago that one of the reasons the House didn’t have any chairmen from southern New Mexico was because there were two southern New Mexicans on the Finance Committee, Martinez and Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces.
“The speaker names those positions,” Gallegos said. “He meets with leadership, and we’ve been having those conversations.”
Walt Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com