President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart pushed back a challenge from Sen. Liz Stefanics at Sunday's caucus of Senate Democrats to keep the top leadership post in the Senate. 

 

Meanwhile, Sen. Linda Trujillo beat out two challengers to become the new Majority Leader; Sen. Cindy Nava took over as Majority Whip (replacing Sen. Michael Padilla), and Sen. Leo Jaramillo reclaimed his post as Caucus Chair.

The results mean a more progressive leadership (with Nava) in the 42-member Senate controlled by Democrats. The increased female representation is also of note, with three of the top positions going to women and Trujillo becoming the first female Majority Leader.

Stewart was mired in controversy going into the caucus—the result of disclosure of a 2024 auto accident in which she ran over the foot of a pedestrian. That and personality conflicts have slowed the Senator, but her relationships in the body go back decades and helped her prevail over challenger Stefanics. The full Senate will vote on the Pro Tem position in January, but Stewart’s election is now pro forma.

Insiders expected Trujillo to easily become Majority Leader, replacing Peter Wirth, who gave up the post but remains in the Senate. Trujillo, only elected to the Senate for her first term in '24 after time in the House, defeated veteran senators Bill Soules of Las Cruces and Linda Lopez of ABQ’s Valley on the first ballot at a 90 minute caucus held at the capitol, according to reliable Roundhouse sources.

In our Aug. 24 blog forecasting Trujillo's win, another insider summed up the new majority leader this way:

Besides her House service she is a licensed attorney, was a Head Start teacher, an elected member of the Santa Fe School Board, and is a former Superintendent of the State Regulation and Licensing Department. That covers a lot of bases. Her main attribute is her level-headed approach. While progressive in instinct, she is able to build bridges between the factions now dominant in the Senate.

Like Wirth, Trujillo is also an attorney. She does not have to wait to assume her new position—she became Majority Leader immediately upon her selection by the caucus. 

THE NAVA FILE 

Padilla did not seek re-election to the Majority Whip position, but Nava, report our sources, has been drumming up support for months. She has long been touted as a rising star in the Democratic Party.

Moderate Democrat Padilla had unusual double duty—he was in Senate leadership yet still served on the Senate Finance Committee, a break with tradition. He remains on the powerful Finance panel.

Nava, 38, was elected in 2024. She was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. with her family as a child. Her work life has been with nonprofits focused on education results for "marginalized" residents. She served as Executive Director of Transform Education New Mexico and Learning Alliance NM. Nava holds a Master’s in education policy from UNM and, from '22 to '24, served as a senior policy advisor in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Nava represents Senate District 9 in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, keeping the Majority Whip post in the metro area. She and her supporters continually highlight her unique status in the Senate: 

Nava is among the first recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections to be elected to public office in the United States. The Obama-era policy, which Nava was approved for in 2016, allowed children who arrived in the country without documentation at a young age to be protected from deportation.

While firmly in the progressive Democratic camp, Nava has a background that lends itself to pragmatism. She is the daughter of a construction worker and a housekeeper who "came to the U.S. seeking a better life for their children. Cindy learned early what families go through to make ends meet."