Jacob Candelaria was only 25 when he was elected in 2012 to the New Mexico Senate. He called himself a proud Democrat and instantly impressed his new colleagues. Fellow Democratic senators elected Candelaria as their caucus chairman. The job was low on the chain of leadership positions, but it was unusual for senators to give a freshman authority.

Candelaria, a skilled debater, graduate of Princeton University and now a civil rights attorney, has a strong résumé. He looked like someone who might be running the Senate by now, the midway point of his third term.

That’s not the way his career worked out. No one could have predicted Candelaria would war with and split from other Democrats in frustration and anger.

He switched his political affiliation this week to “decline to state,” New Mexico’s version of an independent.

In terms of practical politics, this divorce won’t matter. Candelaria, who represents part of Albuquerque’s west side, had already announced he will not seek reelection in 2024. He also had said he no longer would caucus with Democrats, even when he was a Democrat.

With Candelaria’s defection, Democrats control the Senate 26-15-1. He will still vote with them on many high-profile issues, such as abortion rights.

But Candelaria became the rarest of politicians by dissociating himself from the people who could most easily help him pass his bills. One of his complaints was Democrats undercut him on important matters of policy and principle.

He accused Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, of “arrogance and indifference” as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In particular, Candelaria said Cervantes canceled two Judiciary Committee meetings to accommodate his own legal practice when he could have heard Candelaria’s bill to outlaw the gay panic defense in criminal cases.

Cervantes initially declined to respond, telling me it was unbecoming for senators to spar in the press. He later said Candelaria’s criticisms were unfair.

Candelaria escalated the attack by filing a resolution that would have required the Senate Judiciary Committee to hear bills in the order they were referred.

A slap at Cervantes, the resolution had no chance of passing. Candelaria knew it. But his proposal made news, becoming a source of irritation to other senators.

As for the gay panic defense Candelaria wanted to prohibit, it remains possible. His bill to bar defense lawyers from employing the strategy cleared the Senate 41-0 in March, but only five days remained in the legislative session. The bill died in the House of Representatives.

Candelaria also went public with his low opinion of Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, and Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque.

Candelaria said Wirth cussed at him during a confrontation over another bill. Wirth never commented on the claim.

Candelaria also accused Senate leaders of protecting a white female employee who disparaged Native Americans.

Stewart was steadfast this year in supporting Rachel Gudgel, who made $131,000 a year as head of the Legislative Education Study Committee. After I wrote a series of columns detailing complaints about Gudgel, she admitted to making inappropriate, racially tinged statements about Natives.

Candelaria and many other lawmakers wanted Gudgel fired by the legislative committee that supervised her. Stewart said Gudgel had already been punished with a two-week suspension.

But the overwhelming majority of legislators knew nothing about Gudgel’s misconduct for more than a year, a fact that rankled Candelaria. He said Senate leaders covered up a scandal instead of ending it.

Gudgel finally resigned as tribal leaders, the state Democratic Party chairwoman and the 45 Democrats in the House of Representatives mobilized against her.

More boat-rocking by Candelaria extended to Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. After her top administrator in the Public Education Department camped in Philadelphia for a few months last year, Candelaria introduced a bill to require Cabinet secretaries to live in New Mexico. It fizzled.

Candelaria had more success when he teamed with Senate

Republican Leader Greg Baca of Belen to sue Lujan Grisham for attempting to unilaterally allocate federal relief funds to help people through the coronavirus pandemic.

Baca and Candelaria said appropriating money is the Legislature’s job. The state Supreme Court agreed with them, a stinging defeat for the governor.

Candelaria called the ruling a victory for the state constitution. He did what no other Democrat would have done by initiating litigation against his party’s governor. Cervantes and three other Senate Democrats eventually supported the lawsuit Candelaria and Baca filed.

In reflecting on his life, Candelaria once told me: “I was the chubby gay kid growing up. I was bullied in middle school. I was definitely called faggot.”

He reached the Senate at a young age, then couldn’t coexist with members of his party. The old guard will be happy Candelaria has removed himself from the Democratic Caucus.

That’s all right with him. Candelaria believed the Democratic tent was too small anyway.