Making New Mexico proud in Congress

One winner of the recent elections, both at a national and local level, is the member of Congress from the 3rd Congressional District, Ben Ray Luján.

Not only did he win re-election to a sixth term handily, Luján helped orchestrate the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Now, he is in a position to move up in House leadership, which will benefit his district and New Mexico.

It’s a moment of triumph for Luján, who announced that he is running for assistant Democratic leader in the House. That would put him fourth in the leadership should he win, after speaker, majority leader and whip. Democrats take over in January.

The House race could be more difficult than his re-election — which he took with 63 percent of the vote. Just being in the running, however, shows the respect with which Luján is treated at the highest levels of government. He’s considered a favorite, too, although everything is up in the air until Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi either regains her title as house speaker or she is deposed. Pelosi and Luján are allies — she gave him the role at the DCCC — and her fate and his could be tied. (Another plus for New Mexico: A key player in the win for Democrats is from Santa Fe, DCCC Executive Director Dan Sena.)

Whatever happens, we believe the lessons that Luján learned at home in Nambé aided him as he assisted with House campaigns all over the country.

At home, with his parents, he learned he value of hard work, whether growing crops or caring for animals. His father, both an ironworker and the savvy speaker of the New Mexico House, Ben Luján, showed his son that success in politics comes from listening to people, not from preaching at them.

Because of his upbringing, Luján gained the ability to talk to both rural and urban voters, something Democrats need desperately in this age of deepening national divide.

Democrats did an excellent job of attracting new voters and competing in the suburbs in former GOP districts, but in a national race for president in 2020, they still must be able to speak to rural voters in red states with compassion, understanding and respect — even if they aren’t going to win majorities. It’s all about reducing an opponent’s margin of victory. Luján has demonstrated he understands how to do that.

In his letter announcing his candidacy, Luján said, “I have always believed that you earn people’s respect by listening to them. That has been true as I have traveled across the country with all of you visiting with voters. Every one of you has demonstrated to the American people that we will put them first. As a result, we took back the U.S. House of Representatives. To build on this shared victory, I am reaching out to you to announce my candidacy.”

Democrats being Democrats, of course, cannot take a major win without potential stumbles. Pelosi says she has the votes to be speaker of the House, but there is talk of a revolt against her. That contest remains to be decided.

It would be unfortunate if Democrats abandoned the leader who helped bring them back to power, especially without an obvious replacement.

Still, re-electing Pelosi does not mean that Democrats also cannot insist on training a new generation of leaders. There is a younger, more diverse class of newly elected House Democrats itching to take over.

First, they need to learn the ropes. Just as Ben Ray Luján has been doing since first being elected in 2008, working both for his district and for the country at large. He’s making New Mexico proud.