Sen. Lujan

It's assumed that Dem Senator Ben Ray Lujan will stand for re-election next year but he has not officially announced. At the end of last year his campaign account held $1.213 million, an ample amount at this stage of the cycle. 

He spent a total of $7.5 million in winning the seat over Republican Mark Ronchetti in 2020 who spent just $3.5 million. But Lujan only won that race by 6.1 percent, a performance that brought criticism of how the campaign was managed. 

While Lujan, 52, has not yet officially announced his plans, Republicans are not beating down the door to get into the race. None has announced and there are no prominent names circulating.

The fact that the last Republican elected to the Senate here was Sen. Pete Domenici when he was re-elected in 2002 is not helping to lure ambitious Republicans into the contest. 

So what would happen in the unlikely event of Lujan deciding not to run for another term? Certainly Republicans would emerge but the Democrats would have no problem getting a top tier candidate. 

The most obvious would be ABQ Dem Rep. Melanie Stansbury although her left-leaning politics might be a hurdle. However, consultants say votes from ABQ, Santa Fe and Las Cruces would be more than enough for her to keep the seat in the D column. 

Another possible is Attorney General Raul Torres but generally the edge goes to those already in the House. Think Lujan and Heinrich who moved from the House to Senate seats. 

IN THE WINGS

Rep. Stansbury

Stansbury, 46, took heat when she held up a sign at Trump's February speech to Congress that said: "This Is Not Normal." Critics called it for not being serious and a PR stunt.

But Stansbury is actually quite serious about what is happening in DC as she takes to heart a major role in oversight of the administration:

Rep Stansbury, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, led Committee Democrats in introducing a Resolution of Inquiry to investigate DOGE’s unsanctioned use of government data and artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on American privacy and national security. “The American people demand to know why Elon Musk and DOGE are hacking our private and sensitive data and what they are doing with it. This includes Social Security, IRS, Treasury, and other highly sensitive data, I have dropped an oversight resolution demanding the Administration provide answers about what it is doing with our data and how it is using Artificial Intelligence to data mine our systems. It is our duty to fight for answers and get to the bottom of what exactly DOGE and Musk are doing. . ."

Not that she will get much of an answer from the administration but her determination to take a lead role in the nitty gritty of urgently needed oversight, not only protesting with a sign, puts her in the league of possible future US Senators. (Not that Ben Ray is going anywhere. Not that we know of.)

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.