Heath Haussamen
Many say House Speaker Ben Luján’s near-loss in last week’s Democratic primary should be a warning to all incumbents that no one is safe this election year.
I disagree. I’m convinced that voter anger is strong, but I’m not convinced that it’s motivating the masses to reject all incumbents, regardless of their records.
What Luján’s near-loss does show is that his power is continuing to fade away. Don’t count him out – the man who holds the second-most powerful position in state government is a skilled politician who holds a lot of cards and undoubtedly still has a few tricks up his sleeves.
But his near-loss makes clear that the negative perception of Luján you get from paying attention to media coverage of his actions has filtered all the way down to his district on the northwest edge of Santa Fe. And if it’s filtered down there, it’s everywhere.
Luján is exposed as an old-school politico with a penchant for backroom deals who the public perceives as potentially corrupt. His near-loss was about him and his record, not about anti-incumbent sentiment.
Signs of trouble
The first sign that Luján’s power was waning came in 2006. Outraged that the speaker had quietly slipped a $75 million appropriation into that years’ capital outlay bill without the knowledge of most of his colleagues, some House Democrats began talking about a challenge to his leadership.
Will never happen, most analysts and watchers said.
Speaker Ben Luján on the House floor. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
But it did. Majority Leader Ken Martinez stepped up to challenge Luján for the speaker position. He was slapped down – Luján was still very powerful back then – but it was the first sign of trouble for the speaker.
Then came the 2007 legislative session. Luján worked to kill a proposal to reform the state’s scandal-plagued housing authority system, creating the appearance that he was trying to protect a political friend who was later indicted.
It didn’t work. A coalition that included House Republicans, a handful of Democrats and the lieutenant governor combined to create a force greater than Luján. When Luján failed to twist enough arms during a closed-door meeting of House Democrats to kill the reform bill, he was forced to accept a compromise and allow the bill to pass.
It was a big loss for the speaker – a key moment that revealed that, even though he had defeated Martinez, the dynamics in the House had changed.
No longer an unchallengeable force
Luján has become bogged down in recent years by scandals surrounding an illegal billboard on his land and the government paving of a church parking lot.
And he’s been challenged more frequently on the House floor. In 2009, House Democrats stood up to Luján and twice killed a controversial tax plan to fund an Albuquerque development. The House also twice voted down a Luján proposal to help pay for a project at the Santa Fe Railyard that a developer wanted.
After the two votes against the Railyard proposal, Luján quietly slipped the proposal into an unrelated bill during a committee meeting, and it sailed through the House without most members realizing it. But Luján still hadn’t won: Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith opened the first conference committee in the state’s history to the public, and the Railyard provision was removed.
Luján’s frustration at the end of the 2009 session was apparent when he confronted Smith in front of journalists, accusing him of being “full of shit” and “a racist S.O.B.”
Those who stand up to Luján haven’t won every battle in recent years. He got a controversial tax-hike bill through the House earlier this year by convincing two Democrats to take a walk rather than vote.
Luján is still powerful, because he holds the position of House speaker and he’s a skilled politico. But he’s not the unchallengeable force he once was – at the Roundhouse or in his district.
What now?
Luján’s future is unclear. He survived a tough re-election battle and remains the speaker. But there’s lots of behind-the-scenes talk about whether another Democrat should step up to challenge his leadership, and who it would be.
Others have suggested that Luján be allowed to continue to slowly fade out – serving two more years and then retiring, or at least stepping down from the position of speaker on his own.
Of course, neither of those options is what Luján will prefer. And he’s still the speaker. Don’t count him out – yet. But expect House Democrats to the left and right of Luján to continue to become more independent, as they’ve been doing for the last four years.