The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)
As it has been reported, Rep. Andy Nuñez of Doña And County has filed all the necessary paperwork and officially left the Democratic Party.
Perhaps Rep. Nuñez might have voted with House Republicans on issues that the Democratic Caucus would have chastised him for. One could use this rationale and find comfort, but the fact of the matter is that Andy Nuñez is not the only one of his colleagues who is more than upset with his leadership.
Andy Nuñez was among four known members of his caucus – along with Joseph Cervantes, Mary Helen Garcia and Dona Irwin – who supported but never went through with an attempt to unseat Speaker Luján. A deal with House Republicans could not be reached. The leadership held, and Andy Nuñez became the lone representative to maintain his vocal displeasure with the state of the House.
The 2011 Legislative session will be unlike any session of at least the last decade. The 2010 general election results collapsed the comfortable eight-seat majority the House Democrats held in the House. In one day, the House Republicans grew from 25 members to 33, while the Democrat numbers shifted from 45 to 37. This slim margin tremendously affects voting lines and how effective committees will be conducted. The loss of Andy Nuñez as a Democratic vote shrinks the Democratic majority to three.
Speaker of the House Ben Luján narrowly survived his primary election challenge from a virtual unknown. According to Capitol Report New Mexico, Speaker Luján outspent opponent Carl Trujillo 5 to 1. Having won that battle, Speaker Luján then faced the attempt at removing him from the speaker seat… again.
Four years ago, all the four but Andy Nuñez made a move to oust Speaker Lujan, this coup orchestrated by House Majority Leader Kenny Martinez. But this time, Rep. Martinez sat this coup at the right hand of Speaker Luján. For his own reasons, Rep. Martinez staunchly opposes coalition politics in the New Mexico House of Representatives, and as noble as his rationale, the House Democrats that followed him last time would not march alongside him this time around.
Those who hope for a session full of straight party line votes will likely be disappointed. Along with Andy Nuñez, the dark-horse voter, Cervantes, Garcia, and Irwin have already inferred that they are willing to break with their caucus on issues that would normally fall on a party line.
I am not writing this post to report something you may or may not know, but to send a message to the House leadership: In the words of the great Jimmy Paige, “If it keeps on raining, the levee’s going to break.”
Nick Bernard is not the real name of the author of this commentary. The author was allowed to use a pen name to protect his identity because of his proximity to the situation and fear of retribution.