Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, broke from Senate tradition and went on Twitter to write that a fellow Democrat, Sen. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces, lied on the Senate floor. Courtesy/SFNM

By MILAN SIMONICH
SFNM

Across 109 years, the New Mexico State Senate has been populated by at least a few rogues, lawbreakers and drunks.

But it seemed to be a peaceful, polite place. Until this week, I had not seen one New Mexico senator publicly call another a liar. The button-down style of the Senate kept those sorts of charges in closed-door meetings.

Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, broke from tradition. He went on Twitter and wrote that a fellow Democrat, Sen. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces, lied on the Senate floor.

The trouble between the two men centers on Senate Bill 213, which would prohibit defendants charged with violent crimes from using the gay-panic or transgender-panic defenses.

In perhaps the most famous case involving this legal strategy, an attacker claimed he killed gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard in 1998 because of an unwanted sexual advance. A judge ruled that Wyoming law prohibited the gay-panic defense.

But Candelaria, sponsor of SB 213, says the tactic remains possible in New Mexico courts. His bill to eliminate the gay-panic defense has been in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Cervantes, for three weeks.

Candelaria rose on the Senate floor and asked Cervantes if he would schedule the bill for a hearing.

“I’ll take your request and appreciate you coming to me directly,” Cervantes said.

This response did not appease Candelaria, who said his phone log proves he’s placed many calls to Cervantes’ office. Candelaria took to Twitter to complain.

“Despite commitments made yesterday, Sen. Cervantes continues to refuse to hear SB 213 to abolish the gay and trans panic defense. When asked on the Senate floor why, he simply lied and claims no one has contacted him to defend queer lives,” Candelaria wrote.

That version isn’t entirely accurate. In his brief public response, Cervantes didn’t talk about whether he’d been contacted.

Candelaria later told me Cervantes also had canceled two Judiciary Committee meetings to accommodate his own legal practice.

I asked Cervantes for his response to Candelaria’s charges of dishonesty and canceling committee hearings.

“I don’t think it’s becoming for senators to get into spats in the press,” Cervantes said. “I will say he had never spoken to me directly. I think, actually I know, that his staff called my staff.”

As for why Candelaria’s bill hasn’t been heard, Cervantes was vague.

“I don’t know how to address the specifics of any particular bill” before the committee, Cervantes said.

Candelaria is so upset by Cervantes’ handling of the Judiciary Committee that he introduced a proposal to diminish the chairman’s authority.

Senate Resolution 2 would require the Judiciary Committee to hear bills in the order they are referred.

“I’ve never seen a committee chair in nine years act with such arrogance and indifference,” Candelaria said of Cervantes.

Candelaria has been in other high-profile confrontations, a history Cervantes mentioned.

Candelaria recently clashed with Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, over Candelaria’s procedural tactics on a bill. Candelaria complained that Wirth used profanity against him. Wirth hasn’t commented.

In a previous legislative session, Candelaria became entangled in a heated argument with mild-mannered Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, over a vaping bill.

And last fall, Candelaria railed against state police officers who arrived at his home to investigate a threat made against Candelaria 13 hours earlier. Dissatisfied with the officers’ response, Candelaria ordered them to leave. He later apologized to police for treating them disrespectfully.

Cervantes said he was in good company since Candelaria had criticized so many in public life.

But Candelaria’s points can’t be casually dismissed. Legislators chairing committees can bottle up bills, usually without anyone questioning them. Candelaria is one of the few to challenge a system often marked by sloth and disorganization.

Part of the problem for Cervantes and other committee chairpersons is the insane volume of legislation they have to sort through.

All 42 senators want to pass a bill or maybe 10 bills, no matter how inconsequential they are. A total of 454 bills were introduced in the Senate during this 60-day session. It’s impossible for most legislation to receive thoughtful consideration.

Candelaria has become one of the Legislature’s more aggressive members, a style once foreign to him.

“I was the chubby, gay kid growing up. I was bullied in middle school,” he once told me.

Candelaria entered the Senate in 2013 at age 26. A graduate of Princeton and a former legislative aide, he read every bill and seemed to know all the details.

There’s an odd twist to his fight with Cervantes.

Candelaria in 2019 first introduced his bill to prohibit the gay-panic defense. It cleared the Senate 40-0, and Cervantes was among those who supported it.

“If I voted for it before, I haven’t changed my mind,” Cervantes said.

That’s New Mexico politics. Two bright senators who agree on a bill are locked in a battle royal over it.