Rep. Joseph Cervantes (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Though House Republican leaders wanted their caucus to support a coalition to make Rep. Joseph Cervantes speaker of the House, in the end, politics took over, and a coalition never truly materialized.
The political dynamics that prevented the coalition were twofold: Some GOP members felt the pressure of lobbying from tea party groups around the state and were afraid they might face primary challengers in two years if they joined a coalition.
Others thought they would have a better chance of taking control of the House in 2012 if Ben Luján remained speaker.
In addition, some GOP members wanted more from Cervantes, who promised nothing except fairness and adherence to the rules.
In the end, it didn’t matter that Minority Leader Tom Taylor and Minority Whip Don Bratton wanted their caucus to back Cervantes. From The Santa Fe New Mexican:
“Taylor, who acknowledged he had been leaning toward supporting Cervantes, said… more Republicans were thinking of the political advantage of keeping Luján in the position rather than the ‘policy’ advantages.
“‘He’s the status quo,’ Taylor said of Luján. ‘There was a risk with Cervantes that we could have passed some great legislation and there’d be a love fest in the Legislature. … It would be harder to run a negative campaign.’”
Cervantes, speaking to Capitol Report New Mexico and other reporters after Tuesday’s floor session ended, said a number of Republicans “just felt they couldn’t ever support a Democrat” and said the tea party “had a very strong influence.”
“Although the Republicans were at one point were prepared to reach across and support a bipartisan effort, in the waning hours, enough of their members felt they needed to stay home,” Cervantes said.
Tea parties flex their muscles
This is the first time tea party groups from around the state have joined together and flexed their muscles in such an impactful way. Nine such groups from around the state passed resolutions opposing GOP involvement in a coalition.
Coalition supporters were upset that some GOP members allowed tea party influence to derail their efforts. One with knowledge of the discussions of the Republican caucus said there’s a big difference between Luján, who was backed by many progressive Democrats, and Cervantes, who was backed by Democrats willing to cross party lines to get things done.
The source had a message for the tea party:
“If you don’t think there’s any difference between these folks, you’re not paying attention,” the source said. “The progressives won.”
Late last week, many sources – supporters of both Cervantes and Luján – said the vote was at least a toss up, and some thought it leaned in Cervantes’ favor. Then tea party groups started passing their resolutions. By Monday night, despite the efforts of Taylor and Bratton to influence the GOP caucus, it was clear there would be no coalition.
Rep. Andy Nuñez, D-Hatch and a vocal supporter of a coalition to make Cervantes speaker, asked, if the tea parties weren’t willing to support Cervantes, what Democrat they would ever support.
“I thought that the tea party was supposed to be nonpartisan,” said an obviously disappointed Nuñez.
Nuñez was unsuccessfully challenged in last year’s election by Republican Debra White, who is now the leader of the Las Cruces tea party – the group that started the effort to derail the coalition. White sounded partisan in an interview with Capitol Report New Mexico.
“We’re supposed to be a group of conservatives. We’re Republicans,” she said when asked why she opposed the coalition. “… There’s no reason for us to vote with the coalition. We are our own group. These people were elected to do the will of the people, and this is what we want.”
“It’s about what is right. It’s either right or it’s wrong. There is really no middle of the road here,” White said.
‘I’ll continue to keep trying to make a difference’
Cervantes acknowledged being disappointed, but said he will continue working to make a difference. Though some sources said the unsuccessful challenge might lead to a lessening of Cervantes’ influence, others were quick to point out that he became even more influential after being part of an unsuccessful challenge to Luján’s leadership in 2006.
“I’ve been here 10 years, and I’ve many times tried to bring change here – this is not the first time that I’ve tried to do so,” Cervantes told reporters Tuesday. “I’ll continue to keep trying to make a difference in Santa Fe.”