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Two more Dems want Cervantes to be speaker
State Rep. Joseph Cervantes (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Two more Democratic House members said Tuesday that they want Rep. Joseph Cervantes to become speaker, even if he has to form a coalition with Republicans to make it happen.
Reps. Dona Irwin of Deming and Mary Helen Garcia of Las Cruces – Cervantes’ aunt – said in interviews with NMPolitics.net that they hope the Democratic caucus will agree to replace current Speaker Ben Luján with Cervantes, D-Las Cruces. Both said they are willing to back a coalition with Republicans if the Democratic caucus refuses to act.
“I’m certainly not changing parties, but I want to change my party leadership to fit my district, because that’s what I was elected to represent,” Irwin said. “I just feel that there’s not as much transparency, and I’m very, very supportive of Joseph.”
Irwin and Garcia join Rep. Andy Nuñez, who said Monday that it’s time for a new speaker. While he said he would prefer that his caucus replace Luján with Cervantes or someone else, Nuñez also said he’s willing to support a coalition if it comes to that.
The support of the three Democrats for a potential coalition means, should the Democratic caucus refuse to act, that Cervantes and the GOP caucus have the Democratic votes to overthrow Luján – if they want it to happen. Come January, there will be 37 Democrats and 33 Republicans in the House.
Republicans meet Saturday to discuss the situation, and Democrats meet Nov. 20. Cervantes has declined to comment to the media and hasn’t announced to members that he is running for speaker, but he has met with some members of both parties to discuss the possibility.
Dona Irwin
Garcia said she believes Cervantes will run.
“Through some informal conversations, I feel as his aunt that he will commit himself to submitting his name as speaker,” she said.
Luján has said he has no intention of stepping aside. The willingness of House Democrats to challenge that isn’t known, but many think it’s unlikely that the caucus will act.
One top Democrat was unwilling to discuss the situation on Tuesday.
“I don’t get into that. I don’t even know what’s going on,” said Rep. Kiki Saavedra, chairman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. “The speaker’s been our leader for so many years that I don’t even want to get into a debate like that.”
Mary Helen Garcia
Garcia: Members ‘fear retribution’
Majority Leader Ken Martinez challenged Luján for the speakership in 2006 and lost. Luján responded by taking influential committee positions away from Cervantes and Garcia, who supported Martinez. Nuñez supported Luján in that battle, and the speaker made him chairman of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee.
But Nuñez has remained independent, challenging the speaker on some key issues.
Most in the caucus remember that leadership battle. Garcia said some House Democrats have shared with her a willingness to change leadership, “but they’re very hesitant to say anything at this time.”
“They fear retribution because he’s done it to me,” Garcia said.
Perhaps sensing that, Nuñez, Irwin and Garcia said they hope Luján steps aside.
“It seems to me that would be the proper thing to do,” Garcia said.
Irwin and Nuñez both said they prefer that the caucus replace Luján with Cervantes but are willing to consider other members as well.
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FTRPLT
I am way behind in my email so please forgive the lateness of this post.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Representative Cervantes on three occassions. On one occassion he was defending his client against me. I am not an attorney, however, I showed Representative Cervantives the documentation I had assembled and quite frankly he had a difficult time convincing his clients to see the light of day and settle. Representative Cervantes is extremely well educated, ethical, persusaive, hard working and above all a “Gentleman’s Gentleman).
In my opinion, Representative Cervanties is even handed and is truly interested in serving the needs of his constituents, whether they be Republican or Democrat. I sincerely hope Representative Cervantes has a long life in New Mexico Politics. If he wants to be speaker, let him be; New Mexico would benefit from his knowledge and wisdom.
The folks willing to hand power to the Republicans need to be ousted. When the Republicans get power the Democrats wipp pay. Mary Helen garcia and the others are a disgrace to the party.
They are reading the teal leaves and they are wrong.
That One
Not to split hairs but, the question now is whether the Dems as a party care about the message of the last election. It seems that in so much that they do, and not just Dems but Republicans as well, their care about the wishes of the people is not at the top of their list.
It may not seem like it at times, but power is something those who bother to vote in a democracy bestows upon those they elect. Lujan may be adored in his district because of the pork he has fed them for years, and he may have enough pals inside the legislature to keep him as Speaker, but the people of an entire State have spoken loudly this last election cycle. For the Dems to circle the wagons around a relic of an unpopular outgoing regime would stupid. Lujan is not a power unto himself, but people in power do tend to think of themselves that way; which is why they never step down willingly. The question now as whether the Dems as a party understands the message of this last election cycle or not.
Dr. J: The results of this last election should serve as a sign that the NM Democrats need to begin a more moderate approach. Maybe the results of this election is what they needed to spark that trend. Colon’s political future, I believe, is severely disabled due to his far left ideologies and his disaster of a campaign ad against our new Governor-Elect.
Paulec3, if Cervantes is really a moderate, or “conservative enough” to attract the Repubs, he has no future in the current, left wing dominated, Democratic Party in NM anyway. The likes of Colon and Javy and their predecessors have steered the party far left over the last decade, and I doubt it will come back toward center anytime soon.
Mr. Lujan has had much power over the years but that power is melting quickly. Democrats might wish to take notice of this fact, and replace him with an individual who just might work with Republicans and address some of the very difficult structural issues that are present in state government. Mr. Lujan is unable to do this given his personal beliefs. Mr. Cervantes just might have a shot. Odds are 50/50…
No, it’s whether the Dems want to continue to be the laughing stock party by being too scared to move forward with new and untainted leadership. Sorry, but the time has come for Lujan to go.
Joseph does not have the courage to pull this off. Plus his interest in higher office is a big obstacle for him to overcome. He is conservative enough, smart enough but not willing to more than his toe in the water.
Proudrepublican I could not agree more with you, Rep. Cervantes is the best Democrat in the House to be speaker. I found him to be fair and balanced when dealing with other members of the House. It was obvious as early as 2002 that Speaker Ben Lujan was going to be Bill Richardson’s lap dog. He forced through legislation such as the hated “Nursing Home Bed Tax” even against the desires of the Dems in the House. The only way to move NM forward is to break the back of the Santa Fe Mafia is to oust Speaker Lujan. I suspect that even the threat of a coalition will force the Dem Caucus to remove Ben from speaker. But that will agreed to in the Dem Caucus and before the floor votes on who will be speaker.
Vibeway,
I would ask you to ask yourself, which is more important; the people of New Mexico, or your Democratic Party. Can you not see that the interests of the people are better served by consensus building, collaboration, and coalition building?
Have we not suffered enough under politicians that put their party interests and their own interests above our own?
Do you really think Lujan has been good for most New Mexicans?
You could not ask for a better Democrat to lead the New Mexico Legislature during these tough fiscal times. The Democrats in New Mexico and especially in the Legislature have a chance to wipe the slate clean and start over with a new Governor and a new Speaker. Rep. Cervantes has shown his ability to lead and work with tough legislation as he did as the Chairman of House Judiciary for a few years. He also has an understanding of workig with the other side since he spent a few years on the County Commission. The question is, will the Democrat controlled Legislature try to work with the new administration to fix our state or will they dig their heals in and try and play partisan politics? The very politics and leadership that has lead New Mexico from a state with a surplus to a state with a mounting deficit. I would encourage all New Mexican’s for the sake of our state and future call and encourage the Legislature to do the right thing. As a Republican I hope they keep Ben Lujan and help us pick up about 3 or 4 more seats in the next 2 years and then we can truly change New Mexico! You are truly at a cross roads Democrats and we are all watching and waiting!
Whether this is the time for a new speaker is not the issue. The issue is whether we as democrats want to give the republicans yet another victory. Cervantes will be reviled statewide by dems if he does this deal. If he has any aspirations for higher office it will significantly hurt those chances. If Joe, on the other hand, says “No thank you, in these challenging times, now more than ever, we Democrats need to stick together.” He will be a dem hero and well set up for any future office he desires, including Speaker in two years and/or AG in four.