Rep. Andy Nuñez, I-Hatch
Rep. Andy Nuñez switched his party affiliation from Democrat to declined to state on Tuesday and announced that he won’t caucus with either party during the legislative session.
The move gives Republicans the majority on two important House committees – Education and Transportation – for the first time in a very long time. There are now six Republicans, five Democrats and one independent on both committees.
But Nuñez’s switch doesn’t necessarily mean the outcomes of votes on those committees, or on the House floor, will be dramatically different than if he had remained a Democrat. He has long been an independent-minded lawmaker who didn’t vote with Democrats simply because they shared a party affiliation.
“I think I am a very moderate person, and I’m just probably a little bit more to the left than I am to the right, and that’s why I didn’t go to Republican,” Nuñez said Tuesday after switching his party affiliation at the Secretary of State’s Office in Santa Fe.
Nuñez’s decision wasn’t a surprise. The resident of Hatch said last week he was thinking about leaving the Democratic Party after Speaker Ben Luján stripped him of his chairmanship of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee and took him off the Agriculture and Energy committees.
Asked on Tuesday whether he would caucus with either party, Nuñez said, jokingly, “I’m going to have my own caucus at the Rio Chama,” a restaurant and bar near the Roundhouse.
“No, seriously, I won’t caucus with either one of them,” Nuñez said.
Decision came after meeting with governor
Nuñez’s switch came after he met Monday with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. He said the two had a “super meeting, very cordial,” and added that he and the governor are “going down the same path on bills” and “working together.”
Specifically, Nuñez said he will work with Martinez to repeal the law that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, and to revoke licenses already issued to those who aren’t here legally.
Nuñez has already introduced legislation to require those applying for driver’s licenses to provide a valid Social Security number. He said he and Martinez discussed adding an amendment to his bill that revokes licenses.
Martinez said in a prepared statement that she applauded Nuñez’s “willingness to put addressing the important issues facing New Mexicans ahead of partisan politics.”
“Rep. Andy Nuñez and I had an excellent meeting Monday morning, where we discussed issues on which we can work together, such as repealing the law that gives driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and revoking those licenses that have currently been issued,” the governor said.
‘This way I won’t be beholden’
Nuñez was one of three Democrats who openly supported Las Cruces Democrat Joseph Cervantes’ unsuccessful bid to overthrow Luján and become speaker. Nuñez, who was Cervantes’ most vocal Democratic backer, has said he believes that’s why Luján stripped him of his previous committee assignments.
Cervantes said Tuesday that he was “disappointed” to see Nuñez leave the Democratic Party.
“I think there are a lot of Democrats in the state who think very much like Andy does and appreciate the role that he represents in the Democratic Party,” Cervantes said. “We see an increasing number of people becoming independents in the state, and unfortunately too often that’s because the parties remain closed to people who think outside the orthodoxy.”
Nuñez said he’s OK with having no party affiliation.
“This way I won’t be beholden to either one of the two parties,” he said, adding that independents make up “the fastest growing party in the state.”