Luján stresses importance of building relationships
After the bitter pandemonium of the first presidential debate, it might come as a surprise that anyone well-versed in Washington politics could also have a reputation for being a nice guy. But that’s the image the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate long has had.
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján has promulgated it, too. Last week, he stressed that during his time in the House he’s found common ground with colleagues who disagree with his policy positions by getting to know their families and staff on a personal level.
“You do that by working with each other and getting along,” Luján said. “I think what’s needed in Congress is we need to return more civility so that way we can work together and talk together and find agreeable ways to disagree.”
Perhaps, but it’s election season, and over the past month, he’s clashed repeatedly with his Republican opponent, Mark Ronchetti, as they both amped up attacks in television ads over a multitude of issues.
There’s likely more of that to come as Luján, Ronchetti and Libertarian Bob Walsh vie for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Tom Udall, who decided not to seek reelection.
Luján, 48, of Nambé, is considered the favorite in the race given his
history in Congress and wide name recognition in Northern New Mexico. Recent polls have showed him with a nine-point lead over Ronchetti.
That recognition, at least in part, has long come from his family name. Luján’s father, also named Ben, was a long a mainstay of New Mexico politics. The elder Luján served in the state House of Representatives for nearly 40 years and was speaker for more than a decade until he died in 2012.
In the press and in New Mexico in general, Ben Ray Luján’s name is often mentioned in the same sentence as his father, and people often point to his upbringing in a political family. Asked if he has grown tired of the association, the congressman said the opposite is true: He is proud of where and how he was raised.
“My family’s my everything,” Luján said. “They’ve helped shaped me to be the person that I am.”
Luján added his father’s stature fueled him to work harder. The congressman, who was a member of the Public Regulation Commission before heading to Washington, touted the work he has put in as an elected official, noting that he has succeeded in earning supporters who initially opposed him.
“Because my mom and dad are who they are, and my father served in the New Mexico Legislature, as a county commissioner, as speaker of the New Mexico House, I knew I had to work that much harder,” he said. “It spurred me to put in the work.”
He said he learned the value of assiduousness while growing up on his family’s farm.
“No job too big or too small,” he said. “That’s where that comes from — working on a farm.”
The tasks were numerous: cleaning the acequia, seeding the vegetable gardens, shearing the sheep, feeding the animals, cleaning the barns and cracking ice that formed on stock tanks in the winter — to name a few.
“We would be out from sunup to sundown,” Luján said.
It was also his responsibility to milk his father’s goat, though sometimes it didn’t end well.
“There was many a time when that goat would not be having it and would kick that pail and I’d be wearing goat’s milk,” he said.
The farm was certainly a family affair. Luján’s grandparents moved in with his family when he was growing up, and his aunt and uncle were neighbors, as was his godson.
“You learn a lot from your grandparents,” he said. “It’s their work ethic, it’s how they treat people, it’s how humble they are, and how much they appreciate everything they have.”
Luján reminisced fondly about the large vegetable gardens kept by all four of his grandparents — full of corn, squash, chile, cucumbers and tomatoes.
Today, Luján and his mother still grow seemingly endless amounts of produce, including lettuce, kale, spinach, sunflowers, tomatoes, green chile, Serrano peppers, jalapeños, melons, squash and zucchini.
“When I’m seeding, my mom will still correct me and say, ‘You’re putting them too close or too deep,’ ” he said. “It’s precision, and that’s what I’ve always learned from my mom.”
Luján has emphasized his roots with the land and its people during his campaign. His first television ad, launched in July, showed him, among other things, throwing hay into a pickup and “working the land.”
“He’s trying to make that deep connection to New Mexico,” said University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson.
The farm in Nambé is quite a change of pace from life in Washington, where Luján was when reached for an interview last week.
At the time, he was meeting with fellow House leaders as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin tried to negotiate a bipartisan agreement on a new coronavirus aid package.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces still, which is positive, and hopefully everyone will come together to be able to move this across the finish line,” said Luján, who is assistant speaker and the fourth-ranking House Democrat. “We’re just hoping there can be middle ground here.”
That terrain had yet to be located as of late last week. The House did approve a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief measure Thursday night, but no Republicans voted for the bill and Pelosi and the secretary had not yet come to an agreement.
Pelosi said Friday she was “optimistic” about striking a deal with the Trump administration.
Like most Democrats, Luján has been sharply critical of President Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it “catastrophic.”
“He should have followed the advice of experts and not lied to the American people,” he said.
The congressman added he believes the “most important step towards economic recovery is getting the spread of COVID-19 under control.
“In the Senate, I’ll continue this fight to help our state recover and rebuild,” he said.
Atkeson and Gabriel Sanchez, also a political science professor at UNM, say Luján’s reputation for congeniality is well-earned.
“Even as head of the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee], which is high-stress, I don’t remember one story about him snapping at somebody,” Sanchez said of Luján’s onetime role as head of the committee that works to elect Democrats to the House.
“That’s strange right? Someone who’s been in the game as long as he has,” Sanchez said.
The backdrop for the game will return to New Mexico in the final month of the campaign. And when Luján returns home, he may find time to cook — maybe even outside, while the weather is still good.
“I’ll try anything,” Luján said. “I’ll cook any variety of dish.”
It’s that return to roots — farm and family and maybe even goat’s milk — that stick with Luján, and maybe, allow him to make connections.
“It’s part of how we come together,” he said. “That’s what we learn on the farm — you help each other out, you lend a hand.”