Before resigning from the state Senate nearly four years ago, Jacob Candelaria changed his party affiliation from Democrat to decline to state. Being unencumbered by partisan loyalties “was liberating,” Candelaria said, and working as an attorney, he says he fights for the people of New Mexico instead of for the government.

Candelaria has taken high-profile cases including whistleblower lawsuits and a challenge of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s universal childcare program. This week, he filed a disciplinary complaint against state Rep. Andrea Romero for taking a part-time job in the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. The complaint alleges multiple violations of New Mexico’s Rules of Professional Conduct.

In the latest episode of “Around the Roundhouse,” Candelaria joins Santa Fe New Mexican state politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to discuss his complaint against Romero, a new complaint he has filed against District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, his thoughts on the state’s Democratic Party and more.

Candelaria, a state legislator from 2013-2022, recounts his time serving in the Roundhouse, which included tense moments and clashes with the governor and other Democrats. He says he doesn’t miss being a legislator and explains why he feels “state government is broken.”

Chacón then asks Candelaria to go into detail about his disciplinary complaint against Romero. In the discussion, Candelaria reveals that on Wednesday he also filed a complaint against Carmack-Altwiews for hiring Romero to the office. Romero resigned from the controversial part-time job earlier this week.