Mailer from Senate Dem leader attempts to highlight commitment to fighting crime

Oct. 16—Although state Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth is running unopposed in November, a campaign mailer from the top Democrat aims to draw attention to his voting record on crime, signaling public safety will again be a major focus of next year's legislative session.

"You're seeing things in Santa Fe that we haven't seen before. Again, I think that's why it's going to take us addressing this at every level," Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said in an interview.

Across the front of the mailer are the flashing lights of two police cruisers, a campaign advertisement that follows a summer where several high-profile violent incidents played out in Santa Fe. As this season's political advertisements continue to circulate and the Nov. 5 election approaches, the mailer brings into view questions about whether Democratic lawmakers and two-term Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will again clash over public safety legislation in the upcoming session, which is slated to begin on Jan. 21.

Democrats rebuffed much of the governor's public safety agenda during a one-day special session in July, prompting Lujan Grisham to light into the Democratic-controlled Legislature and accuse them of "nothing less than a dereliction of duty."

Lujan Grisham addressed Wirth's mailer in a statement this week, indicating her package of ambitious public safety bills has not gone away. Her priorities during the special session included changes to the state's criminal competency and civil commitment statutes, increased penalties for being a felon in possession of a firearm and a pedestrian safety and anti-panhandling bill that would have prohibited standing on most medians.

"It's a clear indication that Majority Leader Wirth and legislative leadership realize we need to do something about our public safety crisis," she said. "I appreciate the fact that these executive proposals are getting attention in the campaign, and I take it as a sign that Leader Wirth is willing to make sure it gets across the finish line. I look forward to working with him and other lawmakers to get it done."

But Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, who chairs the powerful Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, thinks many of the governor's proposals won't go anywhere in 2025.

"I think we have already looked at it in the early part of our [committee] process," Chandler said. "Most of those bills, frankly, I think are not going to go very far. For example, the panhandling bill — right now the better approach is for cities to pass finely crafted bills that address their specific problems."

Chandler said the proposals she and her committee are considering include refining extreme-risk protection orders, changes to criminal competency and expanding facilities for behavioral health.

"We're looking at criminal competency. We haven't given up on finding a compromise that will address people's concerns as well as be a tool for the [district attorneys] and law enforcement," Chandler said.

For Republican leadership, Wirth's mailer highlights how Democrats are feeling the heat on crime.

"Obviously, if he's sending out this mailer, he's getting some pressure on the crime issue, right? His district has got to be concerned about the crime issues that are happening," said Minority Whip Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho.

"I hope that [Democrats] are for real this time and that it won't just be more gun control that they call crime control," Brandt continued. "Because so far, what I have up there is that every time they say they are dealing with crime, they are actually just dealing with guns and take away people's rights."

Wirth said the purpose of the mailer is to highlight the work he says Democrats have done in the last six years to make New Mexico safer. But Wirth also stressed there is more to do and that his caucus is working toward introducing a public safety package in the upcoming session, noting the "crisis with fentanyl."

"I just want to make sure that public safety is going to be front and center," said Wirth. "I think it's important for constituents in Santa Fe and constituents, quite frankly, around the state to know that we are concerned about this issue."

Though the legislative session is still more than three months away, he also talked about "the need to rebuild our whole behavioral health infrastructure," and said the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee is working on potential legislation.

"It's a level of involvement in the interim process that I've never seen before," said Wirth. "... I think they are going to put together a package of proposals that I would like to go hand in hand with a huge funding package as a part of an overall public safety effort."

How to deal with crime in New Mexico has been a focus of state lawmakers in recent years, with a particular emphasis on Albuquerque, the state's largest city. Michael Coleman, a spokesperson for the Governor's Office, said Lujan Grisham "hears about crime-related concerns constantly. It's top of mind for people across the state."

This summer, Santa Feans voiced concerns at forums on public safety held by members of the City Council. Police have generally blamed rises in drug use and homelessness, as well as repeat offenders, for violence, vandalism, thefts and other problems that have continued to plague residents and businesses.

While crime rates fluctuate from month to month and year to year, data over a five-year period — from before COVID-19 emerged to the end of July — shows a significant increase in many types of crimes in Santa Fe. However, the Santa Fe Police Department has seen a slight decrease in crime overall in the first seven months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023 — a drop of fewer than 100 incidents. According to the city's data, in the first seven months of 2024 there were notable decreases in homicides, arsons and burglaries and some increases in robberies, thefts and assaults.

Chandler said her committee has "an interest in moving quickly on those initiatives that we think have merit." She mentioned pilot programs now operating in four judicial districts that were funded during the special session to allow the Administrative Office of the Courts expand treatment options in competency cases.

"The hope, and expectation, would be that those are working and that we provide more permanent funding," Chandler said.

Brandt said he considers the bulk of the policy items touted by Wirth in the mailer ineffective, noting Democrats opposed the governor's public safety proposals during the special session while Republicans supported them.

"There are a number of things that we have worked with the governor on, that we have brought, when it comes to crime bills," Brandt said of the special session in July. "The Democrats, they decided it was more important to break and go home so that they could raise money for campaigns and not deal with the crime issues."

Wirth said the bills the governor was proposing needed more work.

"Quite frankly, I think it would have been dangerous to pass those bills before they really had a chance to be vetted, thought through and also have sufficient public input," he said. "Those are some of the things that have been happening now during the interim process."