Speaker Lujan Announces He Has Lung Cancer, Won't Seek Re-election

Shortlly after convening the House of Representatives today, Speaker of the House Ben Lujan confirmed he is battling stage 4 lung cancer.

He said he was first diagnosed in 2009. He apologized to friends, family and other legislators for keeping his condition secret for so long. The speaker said that he had undergone chemotherapy through 2010 and later went through radiation therapy as well.

He said it was rough when undergoing the treatment to endure attacks on "my leadership and integrity." Lujan in 2010 survived a close primary challenge for re-election, then faced a challenge for the speakership by Rep. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces.

Lujan, who has been speaker since 2001, told a somber House that he would not seek re-election. He said his cancer has increased his awareness that Democrats and Republicans need  to work together for the betterment of the state.

"We can't sacrifice education for partisan politics," he said.

He received a standing ovation from both sides of the aisle after the speech.

Carl Trujillo, who came close to beating Lujan in the 2010 Democratic primary, has announced he is running for Lujan's seat, which the Speaker has held since the mid '70s.

UPDATE: 2 p.m Trujillo's campaign released this statement:

 "We fully anticipated this possibility and we wish Mr. Lujan and his family well. We plan to make no changes to our campaign. We have always considered our opponent to be the entire political machine, not just one man. More than ever, now's our time to create the change we need."

Here's a copy of Lujan's speech.

NM House Speaker Ben Lujan's Announcement That He Has Cancer


UPDATE 1-18-12 9:20 am;  My full story on Lujan's speech is HERE

Also check out Trip Jennings' article about what happens next. That's HERE

Apparently There's Something Happening In the Roundhouse Today ...

There sure are a lot of people here. The Tea Party is on the west side of The Capitol, the Occupy folks are on the east.

The House media gallery is filling up. (No more space for laptops. I'm back in my office in the Capitol news rooms typing this.)

The gavels bang in about an hour and a half and the governor gives her speech, supposedly about 30 minutes later, though traditionally these things run late.

The New Mexican's Legislature page can be found HERE. 

And don't forget the Legislative Lunch Live Blog Wednesday at noon.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez just came into the news room. Gotta go!

The Legislature is Coming to Town

Yes, it's that time of year again.

Remember this from last year?

I contributed to The New Mexican's big pre-session package published today.

My story on the political tensions facing the Legislature itself is HERE

My colleague Trip Jennings focused on the role of Gov. Susana Martinez in the upcoming session. That's HERE

A quick list of the major issues facing the Legislature can be found HERE

I also wrote a wise-guy list of things legislators say and what they really mean. (If you are a legislator and you read this, remember, it's not you I'm talking about. It's those other guys. Read it HERE

This year the New Mexican will have a live blog on its website each Wednesday (noon to 12:30 pm) during the upcoming Legislative session. It's going to be called "Legislative Lunch." Granted, lunch during the Legislature usually involves slurping a Frito pie in the House or Senate gallery or over my computer keyboard in the office. We'll see if I can blog and eat at the same time. Pleas join us. Watch The New Mexican web site for further details

Roundhouse Roundup: Primary Memories

Downtown Des Moines Jan 1, 2008

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 15, 2012


Like any self-respecting political junkie, I've spent a lot of time, especially since the New Year, following news coverage of the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. 


I've done that every four years since 1968 when Gene McCarthy's surprising New Hampshire showing put a major crimp in LBJ's re-election plans. (I was 14 at the time.) 


But this year, I was a little wistful while reading articles or watching news coverage of the early contests. That's because four years ago, I was there, in both Iowa and New Hampshire, covering what turned out to be then-Gov. Bill Richardson's final days as a presidential candidate. 

Richardson in Concord, NH

Richardson himself says he gets a little nostalgic when following the coverage. "... I do miss those town meetings and I do miss the campaigning and, you know, it brought a lot of memories" he said when I saw him at the Roundhouse last week. 


Though I still shiver when I think about how cold it was in Des Moines when I stepped out of the airport on Jan. 1, 2008 (according to those who were there, it was much warmer in Iowa this year), I have a lot of fun memories on that trip. 


There was the airplane hangar in Dubuque, where Richardson addressed a small crowd. It was so cold that you could see people's breath when they spoke, but that didn't stop the inquisitive Iowans from asking lots of (mostly intelligent) questions. I found that in both states, the people there seem extremely engaged. They like and expect to deal with the candidates personally. 

Paul & Kucinich at Merrimack Restaurant

I was impressed with the speed and efficiency displayed by both parties. By the time I left the caucus at a Des Moines high school, the results were being announced on the radio. A couple of weeks later I contrasted that with the problem-plagued New Mexico Democratic Caucus — which took about two weeks just to get results. After this year's razor-close Republican Caucus, in which Mitt Romney beat Rick Santorum by eight votes — or did he? — Iowa's vote count didn't seem nearly as efficient. 


But the Hawkeye State still is far better at snow removal than we are. 


In New Hampshire I ate breakfast in the now-closed Merrimack Restaurant in Manchester in a booth next to the one where Ron Paul, then Dennis Kucinich were being interviewed on the radio.

Bill & Chelsea:
Can you feel the love in this room?

The day before, I had run into Chelsea Clinton in a Portsmouth coffeehouse, right before Richardson arrived for a planned appearance. 


In both Des Moines and Manchester, Richardson's concession speeches sounded more like victory speeches. He got about 5 percent in New Hampshire and 2 percent in Iowa. In Iowa he declared, "We made it to the Final Four!" I was reminded of that Tuesday night when former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who came in a distant third in the GOP primary, buoyantly declared he had a "ticket to ride" out of New Hampshire. 


In his final New Hampshire speech, Richardson referred to the Nevada primary, saying, "We head out West and the fight goes on!" But even before I got off the plane in Albuquerque the next night, word had spread that Richardson was calling it quits. 


(For the record, the best concession speech in history had to have been former Oklahoma Sen. Fred Harris' in 1976 after a disappointing showing in New Hampshire. Harris, who since moved to Albuquerque, actually said that he'd lost because the "little people" he'd been fighting for in his campaign "couldn't reach the voting levers." He left the '76 contest not long after that. 


I must confess I was secretly hoping that former-Gov. Gary Johnson's campaign for the Republican nomination would have caught on last year so I could have at least argued with my editors that they should send me to Iowa and New Hampshire again this time. 


Blog bonus: CLICK HERE to see a bunch of my snapshots from Iowa and New Hampshire in 2008

Richardson's last rally before the NH primary

It's Official Now -- Trujillo is Running

Last month Carl Trujillo's campaign manager Faith McKenna told me that Trujillo would once again run for House Speaker Ben Lujan's seat and would make an official announcement in January.

She was telling the truth.

From Trujillo's announcement:

“Today, I’m officially announcing my 2012 candidacy for New Mexico State Representative District 46. As many of you know, we came within just a handful of votes of victory in 2010 when we first launched our campaign to stand up against the entrenched and outdated Party Machine that has ruled New Mexico for far too long.

"Growing up in this community, as a son, a husband and a father, I see the damage that entrenched career politicians have done to our community for too many years. Every corrupt deal that goes down and lines the pockets of party politicians and their cronies steals opportunities from our kids and our community. We need to vote out the entrenched, corporate-funded party politicians, and elect real people who will put the interests of our community first."

Lujan has not said whether he'll seek re-election.

Nick Salazar is IN

Last week longtime New Mexico House stalwart Nick Salazar said he was considering not seeking re-election because of the new redistricting plan that would pit him against a fellow Democrat, Rep, Thomas Garcia.

However, Salazar, a Rio Arriba County resident, just dropped by the Roundhouse press room to say that he will run again.

"If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose," he told reporters.

In a news release, Salazar said, "Due to encouragement and support by my colleagues, friends, and constituents, along with my priest, doctors, and most important of all, my family, I have decided to be a candidate for re-election in June as state representative for District 40, which is now comprised of Rio Arriba, Mora and Colfax Counties."

 Salazar, who is the chairman of the House Rules Committee, has been a representative since 1973.

Salazar said he's talked to Garcia who indicated he's running. I haven't heard from Garcia yet. If I do, I'll update this post.


UPDATE: 6:34 pm  I spoke with Rep. Garcia earlier. He said he'll make an announcement near the close of the upcoming session -- but that he will be running for some elected position this year.

Williams-Stapleton Gets Primary Challenger

Beleaguered State House Democratic Whip Sheryl Williams-Stapleton has a primary challenger for the Democratic nomination for her House seat this year.

 Rob Nikolewski of  Capitol Report New Mexico just confirmed that Cara Valente-Compton, a University of New Mexico law student, will run against the whip.

The challenger said that Williams-Stapleton's recent Roundhouse outburst -- in which she accused Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, of "carrying the Mexican's water on the Fourth Floor," a barb aimed at Gov. Susana Martinez -- played a role in her decision to run.

“Of course it did,” Valente-Compton said, “but it’s not the primary reason why I’ve decided to run. But we do have to elevate the tone in Santa Fe … we’re professional people and we have to treat others, and those we disagree with, with respect …. I was raised by Republicans, you have to honor and respect them.”

Williams-Stapleton has apologized to Martinez, Espinoza and the public in general for the remarks.

I think there will be a few interesting primary challenges this year.

ACLU Asks For Summary Judgment in Suit Against SOS

New Mexico’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to rule on its suit that would force the Secretary of State’s Office to turn over the names of the foreign nationals who registered to vote in New Mexico.

The issue first arose during last year’s Legislature when Secretary of State Dianna Duran told a House committee considering legislation aimed at alleged voter fraud that 17 non-citizens  had illegally registered to vote in the state and that 37 of those had actually voted in elections here.

“Secretary of State Duran undermined the public's confidence in our elections when she alleged fraud, then refused to substantiate those claims, the civil liberties group’s New Mexico director Peter Simonson said in a news release. “Making unfounded allegations that cast doubt on the integrity of our entire system of government is reckless.”

I’ve asked for response from the Secretary of State’s office. I’ll post that whenever I receive it.

The lawsuit is seeking the lists of alleged foreign nationals who registered to vote and the signature rosters and checklists that would prove they actually cast ballots in an election.

In November, Duran’s office released a report saying it could only prove that 19 foreigners actually have voted here — and that some of those might have done so mistakenly thinking they had the right to vote. The number of non-citizens who registered to vote shrank to 104, according to the report.

In addition to those, Duran’s office has said there were two other registered voters who voluntarily asked that their names be taken off the voter rolls because they are noncitizens. One of those was a 22-year employee of an unspecified county government who has been voting in most elections since the late '90s. In both cases, the person did not know it was illegal for a non-citizen to register to vote until they applied for citizenship.

The Secretary of State’s office has released more than 100 pages of documents — many of which were heavily redacted. But they have refused to release records with the non-citizen names or the voter rosters

Duran’s office has claimed that releasing the records sought would violate state and federal privacy laws against releasing Motor Vehicle Department records. The ACLU has argued that it’s not seeking MVD records but instead voting records, which are considered public information.

Links to the motion for summary judgment and other documents in the case can be found HERE.

Americans Elect Submit Petitions to SOS

Americans Elect --  a  national organization touted as a computer-age alternative to “hyper-partisanship” and special-interest dominance in electoral politics -- took a step forward Monday by submitting petition signatures to get on the ballot in New Mexico.

Patricia Pallares of Bosque Farms, who has been active in the group, said she brought in petitions with 6,891 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office.

State Bureau of Elections Director Bobbi Shearer said a minor political party needs a little more than 3,000 signatures to get on the ballot. Shearer said her staff will determine how many of Americans Elect’s signatures are valid in about a week or 10 days.

Ken Ortiz, the  Secretary of State’s chief of staff, said if enough of the group’s signatures are verified, Americans Elect will join the Democratic, Republican Libertarian and New Mexico Independent parties on the ballot in November.

Americans Elect was established last year as a way to get average citizens — not the bases of the major parties — involved in the nominating process. All registered voters in the country — and who have access to a computer — are allowed to become delegates.

More in tomorrow's New Mexican

GWAR: What is it Good For?

Mr. Urungus

I normally don't blog about every political endorsement that comes across my computer screen, but I can't ignore this one.

Longshot Democratic Congressional hopeful Sean Closson, who is challenging incumbent Ben Ray Lujan in the Democratic primary has been endorsed by one Oderus Urungus, singer for the infamous costume-metal band GWAR.

 "He's not bad, for a human...I think a GWAR fan in congress is only fair. I mean, most congressmen like ABBA or some shit," a Monday news release from Closson said. "... we need more metal in government and Sean Closson is just the guy for the job! Plus he paid me to say this."

Urungus, whose real name is Dave Brockie, is a semi-regular "Intergalactic Correspondent" for a Fox News show called Red Eye.

 My big question: Does this mean Ben Ray will have to scramble for the Marilyn Manson endorsement?

Here's a Fox segment with Urungus: