Lujan says moving Cervantes wasn’t retaliation

Speaker of the House Ben Lujan told the Albuquerque Journal that his move to replace Rep. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces as chair of the Judiciary Committee had nothing to do with last year’s battle over who would lead the House.

Cervantes supported Ken Martinez’s failed bid to become speaker.

Lujan told the Journal the same thing he told Cervantes: His decision had to do with Cervantes’ bid for majority leader.

“To me, it seemed (Cervantes) wasn’t happy or satisfied being judiciary chair,” Lujan said.

The message here seems to be that Lujan controls everything. You take what he gives, or you get nothing at all.

Cervantes had this to say to the Journal:

“As we say on the farm: You may not want too many roosters in the henhouse,” he said. “That pretty well sums it up – especially in the year of cockfighting.”