Stewart up for starring role in shifting Senate
During a recent conversation, the word “obstreperous” rolled off state Sen. Mimi Stewart’s tongue.
It’s not an oft-heard word in the halls of the state Capitol.
But Stewart isn’t your typical legislator – she was a teacher for almost three decades.
“It’s a common word in my vocabulary,” she said.
Stewart might soon have a bigger platform for her noteworthy diction: The Albuquerque Democrat has been nominated by her caucus to become president pro tempore, the Senate’s top leadership position.
Her nomination is yet another sign of the political shift underway in the state Senate. Amid a major shuffle after the November election, the incoming members of the Democratic majority are more progressive than those departing, likely moving the body to the left.
That transition would become even more apparent with Stewart as the chamber’s leader, as she is widely considered to be more liberal than outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen.
“I do consider myself leaning towards progressiveness,” Stewart said in an interview.
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth was more categorical.
“There’s no question that she’s been – I would call her a liberal champion for many, many years,” said Wirth (D-Santa Fe).
For Stewart, it’s been a long road to get to this point.
She had a “rough childhood,” as she called it, a description that’s seems quite an understatement given the traumatic experiences she endured.
Her father, a traveling salesman, died in a car crash when she was 3. He had fallen asleep at the wheel on his way home before Christmas and was ejected from his car.
Her mother moved her and her siblings to Arizona, where they later had a stepfather who abused them “in multiple ways,” Stewart said.
Her mother died by suicide when Stewart was 17.
“After 17, no more mother, no more father and, thank goodness, no more stepfather,” she said. “So, I’ve essentially been on my own since I was 17.”
To escape those traumas, Stewart threw herself into her schoolwork, which she regarded as a “safe place” where she could excel. She got an undergraduate degree from Boston University and a master’s in early childhood education.
She then worked for decades in special education at Albuquerque Public Schools, where her harrowing upbringing helped her understand families struggling with dysfunction and abuse.
The difficulties of her childhood
also helped her as a legislator after she was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1994, she said.
“I learned to work in a coalition with my siblings against my stepfather,” she said. “I learned how to work with other people and against people that we didn’t think were telling the truth.”
Stewart has now been a legislator for two decades, giving particular focus to education initiatives. She moved over to the Senate in 2014 and is currently the majority whip and a member of the education and judiciary committees.
“I’ve passed over 100 bills that have made a difference in New Mexico in my 26 years,” she said.
Stewart’s nomination for president pro tem still needs to be approved by the entire Senate in January. That’s not a guarantee, as a different candidate could potentially put together a coalition of
Republicans and some Democrats to win the spot.
In fact, Papen became pro tem by doing just that eight years ago, defeating Sen. Pete Campos, who had been nominated by the Democratic caucus.
Still, Wirth said he is “confident” Stewart will be chosen.
“Sen. Stewart has support from different factions within the caucus,” he said.
If she does clinch the spot, she’ll be leading a chamber undergoing significant change – more than a quarter of its members will be new in January.
Stewart said she aims to “continue the collegiality” that the state Senate has largely been known for in recent years, especially when compared to the more rambunctious House.
“I intend to work across the aisle,” she said. “It doesn’t do us any good to have a Senate that can’t
work together.”
Papen said she’s already met with Stewart about the pro tem position and believes Stewart can work toward compromise.
“I think it’s going to be a good fit,” said Papen (D-Las Cruces).
Republican Sen. Greg Baca, who was recently chosen to be the new minority leader, said he is “optimistic” about Stewart.
“The door is open with us,” said Baca (R-Belen). “I look forward to working with her if she’s willing to work with us.”
Republican Sen. Stuart Ingle, the outgoing minority leader, was more tight-lipped but said Stewart is “easy to talk to.”
“We’ve had disagreements but remain friends, and I don’t see that changing,” said Ingle (R-Portales).
But it won’t be all “Kumbaya” in the Senate next year.
Stewart expressed concern about newly elected Republican senators who are joining from the lower chamber. In fact, they the ones she was referring to when she used the word “obstreperous.”
“I’m not looking forward to a few of the people coming over from the House,” she said, adding that Rep. Gregg Schmedes (R-Tijeras), was part of a group “known as some of the most contentious people in the House.”
And not all Republicans are happy about her nomination. Sen. Mark Moores (R-Abq.), for instance, called Stewart “very divisive” and a “vicious political operative.”
“She has a strong track record of jamming her political views and agenda through the legislative process,” said Moores.
Moores called it “hypocritical” that Stewart and other Democrats opposed an amendment to the $330 million economic relief package passed in a special session last week that proposed to give “essential workers” who earn less than $15 an hour a one-time payment.
Stewart called those comments “completely ridiculous” and said the amendment was designed to “ruin the bill” and try to make Democrats look bad. She said the amendment would have diverted a significant amount of federal money away from New Mexicans’ pockets.
“That’s just a potshot on their part,” she said. “Shame on them for not saying that to my face.”
Stewart’s relations with the other party might not matter that much in terms of passing legislation in the upcoming session – Senate Democrats picked up an additional seat and will now have a 27-15 majority.
That likely means they’ll be able to win approval for initiatives that have long been stifled by outgoing conservative-leaning Democrats – in areas such as abortion, legalizing recreational cannabis and tapping more of a major state permanent fund for education spending.
Stewart said she expects the caucus to be more “unified” on such issues.
“I can barely find one person who is not in favor of removing the criminalization of abortion from our statutes,” she said. “I have not talked to anyone who is not in favor of using the Land Grant Permanent Fund for early childhood.”
Stewart is well-known for her doggedness and willingness to fight – a trait she acknowledges.
“The fact is I do get intense,” she said. “I think it’s important we in the Legislature take our jobs seriously.”
While Wirth described her as “passionate and willing to get in the trenches,” Stewart said that characteristic could at times lead her toward anger.
“When I started in the House 26 years ago, I thought I had the answers,” she said. “People started having fun pushing my buttons, and it took me a long time to set aside the anger and listen more to others.”
Stewart said one way she’s working on improving that aspect of her personality is through humor. She’s even done that as a theater actress, performing in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and a Macbeth parody in Albuquerque.
Yet sometimes, she said, nothing is as theatrical as a legislative session in New Mexico.
“I joke around that the theater I’m the most aware of is the theater of the absurd in the Roundhouse,” she said.