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| Andy Nunez |
Capitol Report New Mexico - During this past 60-day legislative session, it seemed that Rep. Andy Nuñez (I-Hatch) was in the middle of everything. First, he led an unsuccessful charge to oust Speaker of the House Ben Luján and replace him with Rep. Joe Cervantes (D-Las Cruces). In the wake of that attempt, Nuñez lost his chairmanship of the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. Then, Nuñez defected from the Democrats, renouncing his party affiliation. Republicans hoped he’d jump to their side of the aisle but Nuñez decided to call himself an independent. “At least I don’t have to go to caucus meetings anymore,” he joked after he made the announcement but his switch eroded the Democrats’ advantage in the House from 37-33 to 36-33-1, with Nuñez often voting with the GOP on critical issues.
If Nuñez annoyed the Democratic establishment, he then completely enraged liberals across the state by leading another charge — to eliminate the state’s policy granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Polls show a majority of New Mexicans want to overturn the policy that was instituted in 2003 by former Gov. Bill Richardson but an issue’s relative popularity doesn’t necessarily equal success in the legislative process. Nuñez sponsored House Bill 78 but it went absolutely nowhere in the Democratically-controlled committee process. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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