Rep. Ben Ray Lujan is about to secure the highest leadership post in the US Congress apparently ever held by a New Mexican. And if the stars continue to align for him he could reach even higher in a few short years. From DC:

The Democratic Caucus will meet (today) to nominate a speaker candidate for the Jan. 3 floor vote and to elect its other leaders for the 116th Congress. The races for the top four posts are uncontested, making it all but guaranteed that current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California will be nominated for speaker, Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland will be elected majority leader, Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn of South Carolina will be elected majority whip and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico will be elected assistant leader.

Lujan, 46, represents a new generation of Democrats. He will be by far the youngest of the top four US House Dem leaders, the rest of whom are approaching 80 and presumably retirement.

That means when Pelosi and the others do retire Lujan could very well aspire to a higher leadership position, such as majority leader or majority whip. A Senior Alligator games it  out:

The Assistant Democratic Leader position is the fourth ranking leadership post. It means he will have a toehold in the leadership. He will be at the major meetings where policy is decided and the day to day floor schedule is decided. This is his opportunity to advance further in leadership. And that's where the real power is. He is the right age and he represents a heavy Hispanic district--a key constituency for the future of the Democratic party.  

In his new job Lujan will work with the various Dem caucuses and serve as a leadership liaison to the powerful appropriations committee.

His election success as chairman of the Dem Congressional Campaign Committee made possible his rise in the leadership ranks. That and a solid relationship with Rep. Pelosi. Also, his own political instincts, honed under his father, the late NM House Speaker Ben Lujan, have obviously served him well.

The impact on New Mexico that Lujan's rise in the leadership ranks will have is not immediately clear, but he will be well positioned to protect the state's interests and perhaps advance it by pushing for certain legislation to go to the floor. In the event a Democrat takes over the White House in 2020, he would be even better positioned.

Lujan was first elected in 2008 and in November was easily re-elected to his sixth term to his northern US House seat.

We said Lujan will "apparently" hold the highest leadership position ever achieved by a NM congressman or senator. That's to the best of our knowledge and that of other longtime observers. If we hear different, we'll let you know.

PEARCE'S PLAY

And some news on an outgoing congressman. That would be Republican Steve Pearce, who gave up his southern congressional seat to run for Governor but lost. His congressional term runs out in January. Pearce, not ready to retire, has announced he will seek the chairmanship of the NM GOP at its December 8 meeting. He is heavily favored to win, but. . .

There is grumbling that Pearce is not rejecting the possibility of making another run for the southern congressional seat in 2020. His doubters say if he is really serious about being party chairman and not just trying to resurrect his own political career he should state that he will not be a candidate.

The seat was won by Dem Xochitl Torres Small and she can be expected to seek re-election in 2020. But Pearce critics think that ABQ businessman John Rockwell, his opponent for the chairmanship, could pick up some steam if he presses the issue of Pearce's future political plans. The argument being that Pearce should be serving one master--the state GOP--not himself. The GOP Central committee meets December 8 to elect the new chair.

VOTE FINALIZED

Voter turnout in the November midterm was higher than just about anyone expected. The Secretary of State has counted 701,654 votes. Only one of our predictors here got it right. ABQ radio talk show host Eddy Aragon said turnout would go over the 700k mark. That's about 56 percent of the registered--way high for a midterm. Good call by Aragon. The rest of us fell far short. And from the SOS:

New Mexico’s State Canvassing Board met Tuesday in Santa Fe and unanimously certified the official results of the 2018 general election. The Board also officially ordered automatic recounts in two electoral contests, with another recount scheduled to be ordered when the Board reconvenes on Friday of this week. The official, certified results for every 2018 general election contest except those with pending recounts can be viewed on the Secretary of State’s website. . . The three members of the State Canvassing Board – Governor Martinez, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, and Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court Judith Nakamura –were all in attendance. 

At the meeting, Susana and her GOP lawyer buddy Pat Rogers raised questions about online absentee ballot requests. They're upset that Dem Xochitl Torres Small beat Republican Yvette Herrell for the southern congressional seat. But even if all those online ballots were invalidated Torres Small would still have won.

THE BOTTOM LINES

A number of readers point out that attorney Alan Hall, whose Dem candidacy for the ABQ area state senate seat held by Republican Candace Gould we blogged of Tuesday, is married to Democratic Public Regulation Commissioner Cynthia Hall. That raises this question: Will a Hall dynasty of Alan and Cynthia replace the Gould dynasty of Candace and her lobbying powerhouse husband Leland Gould? Stay tuned. . .

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018