Dems pick new team of leaders
Party prepares for its minority role
Democrats in the state House elected a new leadership team on Saturday as the group shifts into its new role as the chamber’s minority party for the first time in more than 60 years.
During a caucus meeting held Saturday at the Roundhouse, the Democrats elected Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, to serve as House minority leader when the Legislature goes into session on Jan. 20.
Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, was elected minority whip. Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, was named the Democrats’ caucus chair.
Egolf, a Santa Fe lawyer and political progressive, was named to lead the House Democrats after their top leader, current House Speaker Ken Martinez, D-Grants, declined to seek a leadership role in the new term. The Democrats’ second-in-command, current Majority Leader Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, did not seek re-election this year.
Republican House members earlier this month nominated Rep. Don Tripp, R-Socorro, to serve as the new House speaker. With a 37-33 majority in the House, Tripp is expected to have the votes to be elected speaker when the full House convenes in January.
Egolf, who has served in the House since 2009, said he will
work to highlight policy differences in debate with the new Republican majority.
“My job as leader will be to show New Mexico, when appropriate, the difference that comes from putting Republicans in charge instead of Democrats, and there are going to be very clear differences,” Egolf said.
Democrats will make an effort to find middle ground on policy debates put forward by the Republican majority over the next two years, Egolf said, but he added that efforts to compromise will have limits.
“When it’s consistent with our values and principles to oppose polices we think are not in the best interest of New Mexico, it will be our job to stand up and point that out,” Egolf said.
Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, the current Democratic whip, said he was not disappointed to no longer serve in the caucus leadership.
“We came out of that room today united, more united than any of us had anticipated,” Maestas said Saturday.
Williams Stapleton served as the Democrats’ whip prior to Maestas’ election to the position in 2013.