Senator-elect Lujan

The DC angling by New Mexico politicos remains in high gear with Senator-elect Ben Ray Lujan wasting no time in working to climb the Senate leadership ladder just as he did in the House. 

Lujan is letting it be known he's interested in becoming the new head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is finishing her term there. Lujan held a similar position while a congressman, leading the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in the '18 cycle and overseeing an increase in Dem House members. 

Lujan has turned out to be a natural in forming political relationships, much like his late father NM House Speaker Ben Ray Lujan. In the recent campaign he was knocked as a major DC player who did not deliver enough for the state. There was a bit of truth in that and it stung. Now he will have six years to balance the DC power game with delivering desperately needed dollars to federally-dependent New Mexico. 

The 48 year old Lujan is playing the long game, knowing that no incumbent Senator has been defeated in NM since 1982. With Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer nearing 70 and Whip Dick Durbin near 76, the Dem leadership is likely to change a decade out. Remember, Lujan parlayed his stint at the DCCC into Assistant House Speaker, the number #4 position in the House. 

GUESSING GAME

MLG as Sec. of Interior? The guessing game is going over-the-top as to who Biden will tap for his cabinet. Until the NYT mentioned her for Interior the NM Governor has been pinpointed mainly for the Health and Human Services slot. That's still the most likely. 

The Times also mentions Montana Gov. Steve Bullock as an Interior possible, along with three other New Mexicans--Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and ABQ Rep. Deb Haaland. 

Native Americans are pushing for one of their own at Interior. It would be a first. Perhaps mindful of that, Udall's office comes with a list of accomplishments he's had in Indian County during his long political tenure. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. 

SANTA FE JOCKEYING

More pot boiling speculation in Santa Fe as the bureaucracy ponders the possible elevation of Lt. Governor Howie Morales to the governorship, if MLG scores a cabinet post. We get this mischief making note from inside the education department: 

Joe there is an active campaign at the Public Education Department by two deputy secretaries, Kata Sandoval and Gwen Perea Warniment to move Gwen into the Secretary of Education position. She has talked to superintendents about this, as well as several staff at PED. There is little interest in this move internally. If the Governor is tapped for the Biden administration and Howie becomes Governor she has asked that he tap her as the new secretary.

Well, check that as rumor but multiply it by a factor of 100 if Morales does ascend to the governorship. Meantime, Deputy Sec. Perea Warniment checks in to say that she has no interest in becoming Sec. of Education. "I definitely do not want to be Secretary and am not angling to become Secretary." She said. Got that rumor mill? 

ANOTHER FIRST

DA-elect Byers

Every time you think there are no more firsts to be had in a very diverse La Politica, you're surprised. Here's another--the election of the state's first Black District Attorney:

Doña Ana County has a new district attorney who is ready to hit the ground running. Though Gerald Byers, 62. . .  said he doesn't want to sound presumptuous about not having an opponent but is pleased with the outcome. "I think that everybody will be able to work together for that ever-elusive goal of total justice in society, because people expect it and people deserve it. . ."

This is an historic win. Byers said he is the first African American district attorney to be elected in the state of New Mexico. Henry Valdez, director of New Mexico's Administrative Office of District Attorneys, said he isn't aware of any other African American individual in the state who has held the office. 

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