{"id":1028,"date":"2006-12-20T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-20T17:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/cervantes-looking-for-right-opportunity-to-move-up\/"},"modified":"2006-12-20T11:16:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-20T17:16:00","slug":"cervantes-looking-for-right-opportunity-to-move-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/12\/cervantes-looking-for-right-opportunity-to-move-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Cervantes looking for right opportunity to move up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>About a year ago, I profiled State Rep. Joseph Cervantes<\/a> for the Las Cruces Sun-News as one of the rising stars in state politics. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Since then, the Las Cruces Democrat has considered but decided against running for Congress and attorney general. He has also jumped into, then back out of, the race for House majority leader before the vote.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Those decisions over the last year reveal what is perhaps the biggest criticism of Cervantes \u2013 that he\u2019s afraid to take a risk and may miss his chance to become one of the state\u2019s top leaders. This week marked the second time he has jumped in and out of the majority leader race. He\u2019s talked about running for Congress for years but not done it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Cervantes, 45, said he isn\u2019t afraid to take a risk. He clearly wants to make the move to Santa Fe<\/st1:city> or Washington<\/st1:city>, D.C.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> in the next few years, but said he is awaiting the right opportunity. Cervantes is a lawyer, but said he has much broader interests.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel the attorney general\u2019s office was the best opportunity I would have to accomplish the things I want to accomplish in politics,\u201d Cervantes said of his decision to not run this year. \u201cI felt there were better opportunities in terms of health care, education, the environment and economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Cervantes said he believes recent scandals will occupy incoming Attorney General Gary King\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe attorney general\u2019s office has an enormous task in terms of government corruption, and I hope that will be the primary focus of the next attorney general,\u201d he said. \u201cMy interests are in a broader area right now than just government corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Cervantes reiterated comments he made earlier this week about his decision to withdraw from the majority leader race after Ken Martinez lost the speaker vote and agreed to be nominated for the No. 2 position. He said he stepped back to allow Ben Lujan and Martinez to serve in the top two leadership positions following \u201cdivisive campaigning\u201d in their race, saying it was the best way to unify the Democratic caucus.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Still, he said, the power in the House should not be concentrated in Central New Mexico<\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the state would benefit from greater diversity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had the votes to do it and, at the same time, there was a clear desire in the caucus to try to unify ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It was the second time Cervantes has deferred to Martinez<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> for majority leader. At 49, Martinez<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is still the heir apparent to the speakership and will likely hold it for many years once he steps into that position. Perhaps Cervantes sees Martinez<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> as an ally he wants to keep.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the 2nd<\/sup> Congressional District seat currently held by Republican Steve Pearce. Cervantes opted against challenging Pearce this year, but said he is seriously considering a run against him in 2008.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are great opportunities to better represent this community in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> than we see now,\u201d he said. \u201cLas Cruces<\/st1:city> and Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> is a thriving community and deserves representation familiar with the area and with roots in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Many high-ranking Democrats, including Sen. John Arthur Smith of Deming and King, have sought the seat in recent years and lost. But they had resource-draining primary battles and, Cervantes said, Pearce was stronger then.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cPearce is burdened by his unequivocal and unwavering support for the war in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>,\u201d Cervantes said. \u201cPearce continues to be one of the most ardent supporters of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Cervantes isn\u2019t the only one considering a run. Al Kissling, who lost to Pearce this year, says he\u2019ll run again. State Rep.-elect Jeff Steinborn is another whose name is mentioned, but he won\u2019t say whether he is considering running.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley is considering a run. McCamley has said he won\u2019t run if Cervantes does, but has also been saying Cervantes must decide by April 1.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Cervantes said he\u2019s focused on the upcoming legislative session, which starts Jan. 16 and ends March 17.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I\u2019m done with the session, we\u2019re going to make an intelligent decision and determine whether we\u2019re the right person to represent this community and the southern half of the state,\u201d Cervantes said. \u201cIt will be a family decision. It will be a decision made by family and friends and trusted political friends.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About a year ago, I profiled State Rep. Joseph Cervantes for the Las Cruces Sun-News as one of the rising stars in state politics. Since then, the Las Cruces Democrat has considered but decided against running for Congress and attorney general. He has also jumped into, then back out of, the race for House majority […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}