{"id":24871,"date":"2011-01-07T07:47:16","date_gmt":"2011-01-07T14:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=24871"},"modified":"2011-01-08T13:34:12","modified_gmt":"2011-01-08T20:34:12","slug":"cervantes-is-seeking-votes-to-become-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/01\/cervantes-is-seeking-votes-to-become-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Cervantes is seeking votes to become speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Rep. Joseph Cervantes (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Las Cruces Democrat has committed to Republicans that he\u2019s on board with a bipartisan coalition if they are<\/h4>\n

State Rep. Joseph Cervantes<\/a> is trying to form a bipartisan coalition to become speaker and has committed to Republicans that he\u2019s on board if they are, three Democrats who support Cervantes say.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is committed. He is fully committed,\u201d Rep. Andy Nu\u00f1ez<\/a>, D-Hatch, said of the Las Cruces Democrat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in Republicans\u2019 lap,\u201d said Rep. Dona Irwin<\/a>, D-Deming. \u201cVoters have spoken. They want change. Now it\u2019s up to Republicans. Do they want change?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cervantes challenged current House Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n<\/a>, D-Namb\u00e9, unsuccessfully in a Democratic caucus meeting<\/a> in November. Even before that, Nu\u00f1ez, Irwin and Rep. Mary Helen Garcia<\/a> \u2013 D-Las Cruces and Cervantes\u2019 aunt \u2013 said they would support a bipartisan coalition, if necessary, to oust Luj\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

Cervantes isn\u2019t speaking publicly about the situation, but Garcia, like the others, confirmed that he is working to form a bipartisan coalition. He\u2019s been talking with Republicans and Democrats to ask them for support. Luj\u00e1n has also been reaching out to members of both parties as he seeks enough votes to keep the position.<\/p>\n

Minority Leader Tom Taylor<\/a>, R-Farmington, said a potential bipartisan coalition is one of the main topics of discussion among House Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still out there and still in discussion, almost on a daily basis,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot of things that have to fall in line between now and then. We all know that it\u2019s out there and that it\u2019s a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018My vote does not automatically go with Cervantes\u2019<\/h3>\n

The House speaker is the second most powerful official in state government. Luj\u00e1n has built a reputation over the years for doing things secretly, punishing those who oppose him, and not being fair to Republicans.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In fact, when Luj\u00e1n allotted more capital outlay money for Democrats than Republicans in 2007, it was Nu\u00f1ez who offered to give his share<\/a> to Republicans to even things out. Such actions by Luj\u00e1n are what Nu\u00f1ez said led him to believe a change is necessary.<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez said his \u201cpersonal feeling\u201d is that Cervantes will have the votes to become speaker. He said he\u2019s planning to nominate Cervantes for the position on the opening day of the session.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot imagine how a Republican would vote for Ben Luj\u00e1n,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said. \u201cThere may be some that will not vote for Cervantes, but I just cannot imagine them voting for Luj\u00e1n.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Republican who is undecided is Jeannette Wallace<\/a>, R-Los Alamos. Her district is adjacent to Luj\u00e1n\u2019s, and she said she must consider regional issues as well as other factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel Cervantes would be a good speaker,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cOn the other hand, my district is north central New Mexico, and I feel that\u2019s also important to me. \u2026 I can\u2019t give you a definite answer, but my vote does not automatically go with Cervantes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s still a lot of maneuvering\u2019<\/h3>\n

The issue of whether Luj\u00e1n will remain speaker \u2013 or whether Cervantes will even decide to publicly challenge him \u2013 isn\u2019t likely to be decided until at least Jan. 17, the day before the session begins. Republicans caucus that evening and will discuss the situation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Even after that meeting, jockeying is likely to continue until the session opens at noon on Jan. 18 \u2013 and maybe beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil we meet I really can\u2019t say how this is going to be,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might come down to the very end \u2013 to right before we get on the floor \u2013 because there\u2019s still a lot of maneuvering going on,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s certain is that Nu\u00f1ez, Irwin and Garcia are prepared to break with their caucus and vote for Cervantes over Luj\u00e1n. Beyond that, sources believe the hypothetical vote between Cervantes and Luj\u00e1n is currently too close to call, with a handful of members from both parties undecided.<\/p>\n

A promise to be fair<\/h3>\n

Some Democrats have criticized those willing to break with the party, but Garcia and Nu\u00f1ez said this isn\u2019t about giving Republicans more power. Both said Cervantes has promised Republicans that they\u2019ll be treated fairly if he\u2019s speaker, but nothing more \u2013 including committee chairmanships.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I can promise you is that there will be a lot of transparency and that your legislation won\u2019t be held up,\u2019\u201d Garcia said Cervantes promised.<\/p>\n

Irwin and Nu\u00f1ez said they are not crossing over to the other side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t dislike the speaker. Don\u2019t misunderstand me,\u201d Irwin said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s time for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cervantes\u2019 only public comments on the situation came in November<\/a> after his caucus chose to nominate Luj\u00e1n for speaker. He wouldn\u2019t say whether he would try to form a bipartisan coalition, but said it was time to \u201cevaluate where the (Democratic) caucus is going, and listen to all New Mexicans to see if they support the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cervantes said the message he took from Democratic losses in the November election was that voters wanted to see change in the Democratic Party. He said it was a message \u201cthat we shouldn\u2019t take any voters for granted,\u201d a message \u201cfor consensus building,\u201d and a message that voters want reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Rep. Joseph Cervantes is trying to form a bipartisan coalition to become speaker and has committed to Republicans that he\u2019s on board if they are, three Democrats who support Cervantes say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-24871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24871","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=24871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24871\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}