Las Cruces Democrat Seeks Senate Pro Tem Position

Add another Democrat to a growing list of those running for Senate president pro tem: Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces.

Papen, who was just elected to a fourth term, joins at least four of her Democratic colleagues in seeking the Senate’s top job. It’s open because Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, lost his seat in the Nov. 6 election.

Papen said Tuesday that she was asked by Democrats and Republicans to run for the position. It’s voted on by all 42 Senate members.

A self-described moderate, Papen said she could readily work with the GOP minority. She also said that she has known Republican Gov. Susana Martinez — former district attorney in Doña Ana County — for years, and that while they have their differences, the relationship has not been adversarial.

GOP Direction: A Lincoln County Republican Party leader said Tuesday that he’s pushing to win the state party’s chairmanship to distance the GOP from political operatives such as Gov. Susana Martinez’s adviser, Jay McCleskey.

Lincoln County Republican Party Chairman John Billingsley said he is throwing his hat into the ring because he is concerned about the way McCleskey-affiliated Republican political groups, for example, attempted to pick winners from some of this year’s Republican primary races for seats in the Legislature.

“We as a party can not take sides one Republican against another because that’s not the way we do it,” Billingsley told the Journal. “… The way I see it is the party has to stand autonomous, and it can not be run by political consultants.”

State Republicans in December are expected to select a replacement for departing Chairman Monty Newman.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal