Lawmaker ‘a giant in the Legislature’
Longtime state employee served for 30 years in House, respected by both parties
Luciano “Lucky” Varela, a longtime state employee who went on to serve for 30 years in the New Mexico House of Representatives, died Saturday night at his home in Santa Fe, surrounded by family members. He was 82.
His son, Jeff Varela, said the cause was complications from congestive heart failure.
Lucky Varela worked for years as state comptroller and held other positions in the Department of Finance and Administration before winning a seat in the House of Representatives in 1986. Legislative colleagues often deferred to Varela, a Democrat, because of his knowledge of state budgeting and finances.
“He was a giant in the Legislature,” said Rep. Nick Salazar, D-OhkayOwingeh, who’s been a House member
since 1973 and is its most senior member. “If you needed to know anything about any legislation that dealt with financial items, you went to Lucky to get advice.”
Varela also was an outspoken advocate for state employees, pushing to give them pay raises and to fill vacant positions in state government. One of his final accomplishments occurred in 2013, when he cosponsored a bill to overhaul the Public Employees Retirement Association pension fund.
Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, said in a statement Sunday that Varela was “a master legislator whose expertise on the budget and finances was unparalleled. He was also a gentle soul who cared deeply about his Santa Fe constituents and his wonderful family.”
Lawmakers from both major parties echoed that praise.
“Lucky was a nuts and bolts guy,” said Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “Lucky would really drill down. He knew state government phenomenally well, and he knew where all the hidden skeletons were. I don’t mean that in terms of covering up. He could uncover things.”
Rep. Jimmie Hall, R-Albuquerque, said Varela “was always someone I listened to and respected because he knew state finances so well.”
Jeff Varela said his father always liked math and numbers, interests that shaped his career.
Luciano “Lucky” Varela was born on Feb. 17, 1935, to Celestino and Catalina Varela in Pecos. A child of the Great Depression, he developed a work ethic as a boy by carting firewood to miners laboring north of Pecos.
Though Lucky Varela’s father pledged allegiance to the Republican Party, his mother was a Democrat who “pretty much ran the family from a political standpoint,” Jeff Varela said.
After graduating Pecos High School, Lucky Varela briefly attended The University of New Mexico before joining the Army in 1957. He served a two-year hitch at Fort Lewis, Wash., working as a driver.
After receiving an honorable discharge, Varela attended the College of Santa Fe, where he received a degree in accounting. He also obtained a law degree from LaSalle University, though he never practiced law. He worked as a comptroller for the state Department of Finance from the early 1960s into the mid-1980s.
“He drew on that background extensively and knew from his own experience what makes good public policy,” said Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan.
When Varela retired from state government in 1986, his son James Varela said, people told him to enjoy himself. In his own way, he did just that. He ran for the House of Representatives in House District 48, launching his 30-year career in the Legislature.
“To him that was enjoying life,” James Varela said.
Lucky Varela served on the House Appropriations Committee and the Legislative Finance Committee, always with a serious style.
“Representatives of some public agencies would start getting uncomfortable when Lucky would start drilling in,” Smith said. “That was obvious by the way some of the presenters would move around, communicating that they did not have a high comfort level. In many cases, he knew the finances of those different agencies better than the secretaries of those departments did.”
Roch said Varela did not pick fights in the Capitol, but he was not timid, either.
“He had a question, and it might be a hard question, and if you had the answer to that hard question he was easily satisfied by that,” Roch said. “If you didn’t have an answer, he let it be known that you had homework to do.”
House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said Varela served as a mentor to incoming freshmen in the House of Representatives, teaching them particulars about the state budget.
“As a freshman, you are always afraid to ask questions that might be ‘dumb’ questions, but Lucky went out of his way to make sure that I and other freshmen understood that there was never a ‘dumb’ question,” Egolf said. “He put in a tremendous amount of time to help me and other members understand how the budget worked, how it was put together and what to look for.”
Varela in 2006 announced his candidacy for state treasurer, but withdrew from the race. Three years later, when the state was in a financial crisis because of the national recession, Egolf said, Varela was at his best.
“He single-handedly put together the budget package that saved the state, and that is not an exaggeration. He worked for months before the session started on that package to keep schools open, to make sure state employees did not get laid off and to make sure cops got paid.”
Health problems caused Varela to miss much of the 2015 and some of the 2016 legislative sessions. He decided not seek re-election in 2016. Linda Trujillo, who serves on the Santa Fe school board, succeeded him in the House of Representatives, defeating two other Democrats in a primary, including Varela’s son, Jeff.
Upon retiring, Lucky Varela would tell people that he did not miss the hustle and bustle of the Capitol. But his son, James, knew better.
“One time I gave him a phone call in the afternoon and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ ” James Varela said. “And he said, ‘Absolutely nothing,’ meaning he was absolutely bored. I knew where he wanted to be. He knew where he wanted to be.”
Lucky Varela, who was divorced, is survived by his sister, Guadalupe Varela of Pecos; his two sons; a daughter, Bernadette; and nine grandchildren.
The family is still working out the details of a memorial service, and Egolf said state legislators will likely hold a service for Varela in the Capitol in a week or so.