New Senate majority leader brings a background in mediation to top spot
SANTA FE — Some framed pictures in Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth’s office had yet to be hung — including a commemorative poster of the Santa Fe Opera — several days into the 60-day legislative session that started last week.
That might be because the Santa Fe Democrat, who took over the powerful floor leader post after Michael Sanchez was ousted from the Legislature in the November election, has had a few other matters to deal with in the session’s opening stanza.
In the first two days, the Senate approved a $262 million package of solvency bills aimed at plugging a state budget deficit and enacted a rule change requiring webcasts of chamber floor sessions and committee hearings to be archived.
“The first (few) days have been like drinking from a fire hose because we started off so quickly,” Wirth said in an interview.
Wirth, a lawyer whose practice focuses on mediation, has a reputation at the Roundhouse as a fair and even-keeled
lawmaker.
A former chairman of the Senate Conservation Committee, Wirth said his experiences have prepared him for the floor leader position, a job that involves setting the voting agenda and managing the flow of legislation on the Senate floor.
But he insists the leadership post won’t change his approach to legislating.
“It’s exciting to be in a position to steer the ship, but I think people know me in this building and know I’ve always approached issues from a statewide perspective,” Wirth said.
“Your enemy on one bill is your best friend on another bill, and that’s how I’ve always approached it,” he added.
Wirth’s already vowed to bring more transparency to the Senate, and won plaudits from Republican senators during the session’s opening days for starting floor sessions on time.
“I miss his company on the back row,” said Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, who has sat next to Wirth on the Senate floor for years. “I’ve always known, but I think everyone is realizing now how pragmatic he’s going to be.”
“When he says it starts at 10:30, he means it,” Rue added. “He is more structured, more open, more transparent, so I think more bills will get their hearings.”
Formidable reputation
Wirth, who is married with two children, comes from a prominent Santa Fe family. His grandfather, John Gaw Meem, was a renowned architect who helped develop and popularize the Pueblo Revival style.
Wirth graduated from Stanford University and then returned to New Mexico, getting his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law.
He became a legislator in 2004 and served for four years in the House of Representatives before winning a seat in the state Senate in 2008.
Brian Sanderoff, a longtime New Mexico political observer and president of Research & Polling Inc., said Wirth has a reputation as a “formidable legislator who does his homework.”
“Normally the first few weeks of the legislative session nothing’s happened. Here, only 24 hours, and they’ve moved a solvency package through . ... That shocked a lot of people,” Sanderoff said.
He and Rue both expect Wirth’s leadership to change the way bills move through committees and onto the full Senate.
“I don’t think we’ll see as many committee delays or people wondering if their bill will get a hearing or not,” Sanderoff said.
Legislative priorities
In past legislative sessions, Wirth has sponsored legislation to ban texting while driving and overhaul the state’s bail reform for those charged with violent crimes.
He’s also been pushing for years to clarify the state’s laws governing campaign-related spending by political committees, or PACs, and intends to continue the effort this year.
Sanchez, his predecessor as Democratic floor leader, had opposed some crime and ethics-related bills and faced criticism for stifling them in the Senate.
While Sanderoff expects Wirth to follow his party’s general philosophy, he said there may be some changes.
“He is liberal and progressive and will support those traditional values, yet at the same time as a leader he’s going to support those things that sometimes have managed to fall through the cracks,” Sanderoff said. “I think that he will have a big impact on the Legislature when it comes to transparency issues, campaign finance reform and ethics of public officials.”
“That’s an area that sometimes the Legislature has resisted, and so I think that’s always been a priority of his,” Sanderoff added.
Meanwhile, Wirth is one of two Santa Fe Democrats to take on highprofile leadership positions this year at the Capitol — new House Speaker Brian Egolf is the other — but he said he hasn’t had time to dwell on what the power shift might mean for the state’s capital city.
“It’s come up for sure, but we’re both really focused on the big picture,” Wirth said.