Rep. Ben Ray Lujan is trying to stay ahead of the progressive curve as he wards off Democratic US Senate challenger Maggie Toulouse Oliver. Lujan has announced he will no longer accept corporate PAC money. That's one of three key issues for the Dem progressive wing and one MTO would like to use against him, but which now may be neutralized. Said Lujan:

My campaign. . . will not accept corporate PAC money. At the start of the last Congress, one of the first votes House Republicans took was on a bill designed to unravel protections for workers exposed to chemicals like beryllium. Beryllium is one of the chemicals that poisoned my father’s lungs and caused his cancer. Watching House Republicans vote against the health and safety needs of people like my father in order to placate special interests left me sick. . . This decision is at the core of the kind of campaign I’m running. A campaign run on New Mexican values that is built by the people, not corporations.

But MTO found a bit of wiggle room in the northern congressman's declaration, coming with this:

We’re excited to see the Congressman following Maggie’s lead and finally saying no to corporate PAC money. We think it would be a show of genuine commitment to these progressive values if the Congressman would return the nearly $200,000 he has already accepted from oil & gas, pharmaceutical companies, telecomm and other big corporations since the beginning of the year.

Lujan's rejection of corporate PAC money is not expected to hurt his fund-raising. With his national connections he is capable of raising from individuals the $3 million observers say the Senate primary will cost him.

The other two touchstones of the progressives are Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Lujan has embraced the Green New Deal but he is not supporting a Medicare for All bill that would establish a single payer system and essentially eliminate the insurance companies. But he is advocating for a public option--a bill that would allow people to buy into state Medicaid programs. MTO has said she supports both Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

THE NORTHERN RACE

Meanwhile, in the race to replace Lujan in his northern congressional seat, outed CIA spy Valerie Plame, as expected, has made her bid for the Dem nomination official, joining what is turning into a crowded field. But unlike the other hopefuls Plame's entry generated national publicity and in turn can be expected to generate national donations. How much is key.

Plame has a base of progressive Anglos in Santa Fe County where she lives but will need to reach out to Hispanic and Native Americans in the sprawling district. But so far she has one corner of the vote to herself. In a crowded primary that could be won with a low percentage of the overall vote, that is significant.

Now that she is a candidate Plame's critics have amped up their attacks. citing in particular a past tweet she made--and later apologized for--that was viewed as anti-Semitic:

In September 2017, she tweeted out an article from the anti-Semitic conspiracy site Unz, which was titled, "America's Jews Are Driving America's Wars." The story was rife with overt Jew hatred.

Plame later apologized for the tweet:

I'm not perfect and make mistakes. This was a doozy. All I can do is admit them, try to be better and read more history next time. Ugh.

Plame, 55, has not tweeted lately and her account at last check was not active.

The anti-Semitic meme could be an issue for Plame's fund-raising but won't directly impact Jewish votes in the district because there are few. However, the Jewish faith has deep roots there as a result of the Spanish Inquisition when Jews who publicly rejected their fate secretly clung to it. From  the NM Jewish Historical Society:

Some of these conversos accepted baptism sincerely, but others converted in name only. . . Life became very difficult for these crypto-Jews, or secret Jews. Ultimately, the Inquisition became established in the Spanish colonies, and sporadic campaigns against Mexican crypto-Jews in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries stimulated a migration of these people to the far northern frontier of Mexico, including New Mexico. Inquisition trial records show clearly that. . . crypto-Jews (could) be found among the New Mexico colonists in the mid-1600s. . . Today in New Mexico vestiges of this crypto-Jewish heritage can still be found among the Hispano community. 

WILSON ENDORSES EX

Wilson

While they are now divorced, the ex-husband of Plame, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson who she became famous with, harbors no ill-will toward his former spouse. In fact, in an email to us he endorses her candidacy:

I don’t do politics anymore but I do want to offer my wholehearted support and endorsement of Valerie Plame’s candidacy. Her love of New Mexico and her participation in local community activities is well known, as is her support of progressive causes. She is a natural leader who knows how to get things done, and with her prior time in Washington, she will hit the ground running on behalf of her constituents. She will be a worthy successor to Ben Ray.

Wilson, 69, and Plame are the parents of twin boys now in their late teens,

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019