[LWVNM Action] NM House leadership nominated by Dems

[Judy Williams]

Hi there!  Are you going to be here for the HIS meeting on Tuesday?

And I assume you saw that Reena will be the Whip!

I know you asked Dick, but I think Martinez is the best choice.  I don't
like Lundstrom at all, and Garcia is kind of a racist (between you and
me).  Just sayin'.  Judy

On Sun, Nov 13, 2022 at 9:00 AM Nandini Kuehn via Action <
action at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:

> What do you think,  Dick? I don't know Javier Martinez.
>
> N
>
> On Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 3:48 PM Richard Mason via Action <
> action at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
>
>> *Martínez nominated to serve as House speaker*
>>
>> *BY DAN MCKAY / JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
>> <https://www.abqjournal.com/author/dmckay>*
>> PUBLISHED: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH, 2022 AT 5:20PM
>> UPDATED: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH, 2022 AT 9:56PM
>>
>>
>> <https://www.abqjournal.com/2549128/martinez-nominated-to-serve-as-house-speaker.html?fbclid=IwAR01nVx3Jr26WQ1-0RhAqLXHS5BxoJtFDWIil2ZLuRDgnJ_RIUYJjST28R8>
>>
>> House Majority Leader Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, walks through the
>> tennis courts at Mesa Verde Park in the neighborhood where he grew up.
>> (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
>>
>> SANTA FE — Democrats on Saturday agreed to nominate Javier Martínez — a
>> progressive whose district covers Downtown Albuquerque and Old Town — to
>> serve as the next speaker of the House, widely considered the most powerful
>> legislative post at the Capitol.
>>
>> Martínez, 41, was picked in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic
>> caucus, a group that includes incumbents who won reelection Tuesday and
>> winning candidates set to start their first term next year.
>>
>> The group also chose Rep. Gail Chasey of Albuquerque as majority floor
>> leader, Rep.-elect Reena Szczepanski of Santa Fe as majority whip and Rep.
>> Raymundo Lara of Chamberino as chair of the caucus.
>>
>> In an interview, Martínez listed public safety, help for working families
>> and education as immediate priorities for the 60-day session that begins
>> Jan. 17.
>>
>> His leadership, he said, will be informed by his childhood growing up in
>> Albuquerque and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, as the son of immigrants who had
>> jobs in construction and janitorial work.
>>
>> “My upbringing and my life experience have shaped the vision that I hope
>> to implement as the speaker of the House,” Martínez said. “With that comes
>> really continuing to target the needs of working families, as well as the
>> diversification of our economy.”
>>
>> The election of Martínez as House speaker will require a full vote of the
>> chamber when the session begins next month. But Democrats are set to hold a
>> 45-25 majority, according to unofficial election results, making their
>> nominee well-positioned to take the top job.
>>
>> Martínez would succeed Speaker Brian Egolf, a Santa Fe lawyer who didn’t
>> seek reelection to the Legislature. Egolf has led the House since 2017.
>>
>> Martínez won a three-way race for the speaker’s nomination. Reps. Miguel
>> P. Garcia and Patricia Lundstrom were also candidates.
>>
>> The caucus chose other leaders, too:
>>
>> — Chasey, the longest-tenured member of the House, having served since
>> 1996, will become majority leader. The job puts her in position to help
>> determine legislative strategy, manage the flow of bills during floor
>> sessions and communicate with the Republican leader.
>>
>> Chasey had been chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee.
>>
>> — Szczepanski, who’s about to start her first term, will become majority
>> whip. It’s a position involved in strategic decisions, counting votes and
>> building support for Democratic bills.
>>
>> Szczepanski is a familiar face at the Roundhouse as chief of staff to
>> outgoing Speaker Egolf.
>>
>> Like Martínez, her parents were immigrants, from India.
>>
>> — Lara will serve as caucus chairman, presiding over the internal
>> meetings of the Democratic caucus.
>>
>> *‘Working New Mexicans’*
>>
>> The next legislative session will come as New Mexico enjoys an enormous
>> revenue boom driven by the oil and gas industry.
>>
>> Martínez said lawmakers will work to address public safety and direct
>> education funding to help children and students. Economic concerns, he
>> said, will be a priority.
>>
>> “We have to make sure we protect the pocketbooks of working New
>> Mexicans,” Martínez said. “There’s a lot of widespread support we can give.”
>>
>> In the last session, Martínez served as majority leader. He is also a
>> former chairman of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee.
>>
>> He has carried legislation on cannabis legalization, expungement of
>> cannabis-related charges from court records and tax policy. He was a
>> driving force behind the push to tap more heavily into New Mexico’s largest
>> permanent fund to make more money available for early childhood education
>> and public schools.
>>
>> Outside the Roundhouse, he serves as executive director of the
>> Partnership for Community Action, a nonprofit group that works with
>> immigrant families.
>>
>> Martínez was born in El Paso but spent much of his childhood in Ciudad
>> Juárez until he was 7. He spoke only Spanish — other than the English he
>> picked up in cartoons — when his family moved to Albuquerque.
>>
>> He joined the House in 2015.
>>
>> Even while maintaining 45 seats, the Democratic majority will have some
>> new faces. Seven newly elected Democrats are set to serve in their first
>> legislative session next year, and another, Joseph Sanchez, is returning
>> after having run unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020.
>>
>> Women make up two-thirds of the Democratic caucus, or 30 of the 45
>> members.
>>
>>
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