New Mexico Senate Democrats name chamber leaders ahead of upcoming legislative session

New Mexico Senate Democrats met over the weekend to elect their party’s chamber leaders ahead of the upcoming 2027 legislative session.

Caucus members met behind closed doors Sunday to nominate incumbent Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) for another term as Senate president pro tempore. Stewart will face an election for the title in January, when the legislative session convenes. The full Senate votes on the election of the president pro tempore, while each party’s caucus can select its floor leaders and whips ahead of the lawmaking session.

The caucus selected three other leaders who will not need to go to a full election in January. Caucus members chose state Sen. Linda Trujillo (D-Santa Fe) as the new Senate majority leader and Sen. Cindy Nava (D-Bernalillo) as the new Senate majority whip. They also reelected Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española) to his post as majority caucus chair.

Trujillo first won election to the state Senate in 2024, though she previously held elected seats on the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education and in the state House of Representatives, where she cosponsored legislation to create the state Early Childhood Education and Care Department. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had previously appointed her as superintendent of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, where Trujillo oversaw the implementation of legislation that created the state’s recreational cannabis industry.

“I am honored and humbled that my colleagues have placed their trust in me to serve as Majority Leader,” Trujillo said in a statement. “New Mexicans sent us to Santa Fe to solve real problems like strengthening our schools, protecting the health and safety of our communities and building an economy that works for every family in this state. I am excited and ready to get to work alongside this united caucus to deliver on our shared commitment to the people of New Mexico.”

Trujillo replaces Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), who in June announced that he wouldn’t seek reelection to his seat in the Senate.

Nava, the Bernalillo Democrat, will replace Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) as majority whip after he declined to seek another term in that leadership position.

The changes come as lawmakers prepare for a 60-day legislative session under a new governor. Former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a Democrat, faces former Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, a Republican, in the Nov. 3 general election. Early voting begins Tuesday at county clerk’s offices, before expanding to alternate voting locations on Oct. 17.

Lawmakers have announced their plans to craft legislation around implementing a statewide data center moratorium, overhauling the state’s troubled child welfare agency and updating New Mexico’s decades-old consumer protection law in the upcoming session.