{"id":35277,"date":"2012-01-18T06:54:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T13:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=35277"},"modified":"2012-01-18T11:19:58","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T18:19:58","slug":"lujan%e2%80%99s-cancer-brings-an-era-to-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/01\/lujan%e2%80%99s-cancer-brings-an-era-to-an-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Luj\u00e1n\u2019s cancer brings an era to an end"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"House<\/a>

House Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n, shown here in early 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAn era is about to end,\u201d The Santa Fe New Mexican wrote about House Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n\u2019s<\/a> announcement on Tuesday that he has stage 4 lung cancer<\/a> and won\u2019t seek re-election.<\/p>\n

From the article<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cLuj\u00e1n was speaker for all eight years of (former Gov. Bill) Richardson\u2019s administration. Through those years he was credited for pulling several pieces of legislation Richardson wanted out of the fire when it appeared they might not pass.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While the Albuquerque Journal pointed out<\/a> that Luj\u00e1n is \u201ca staunchly partisan Democrat known for his steely resolve,\u201d everyone put politics aside on Tuesday to honor the speaker\u2019s tenacity in fighting the illness \u2013 he\u2019s been battling it since 2009 \u2013 and to wish him well.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Mexico is pulling for you,\u201d Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a> told Luj\u00e1n during her state of the state address<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Journal and New Mexican both explored what the speaker\u2019s health means for the 30-day session. Luj\u00e1n intends to stay on, but all realize that will be difficult. He was breathing with the help of an oxygen tank on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

House rules allow the speaker to designate someone else to preside in his place for up to a day, but not longer. Will the House suspend the rules if necessary?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do our best to accommodate his situation,\u201d Minority Leader Tom Taylor<\/a> of Farmington was quoted by the Journal as saying. \u201cBut at the same time, it\u2019s important that we follow the rules that are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Majority Leader Ken Martinez<\/a> of Grants didn\u2019t seem to think it would be an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have urged him to stay home when he can, just to recuperate, to keep himself well,\u201d the Journal quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n

The future<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s too early \u2013 there are too many unknowns \u2013 to predict who will be the next speaker and when the battle for the job will be fought. Will Luj\u00e1n be able to finish the session? Could there be a special session this year? Or will the new speaker be elected at the start of the first session of 2013?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too early,\u201d was what Martinez, who unsuccessfully challenged Luj\u00e1n for the position several years ago, was quoted as saying by The New Mexican in a separate article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rep. Joseph Cervantes<\/a> of Las Cruces, who unsuccessfully challenged Luj\u00e1n for the speakership in 2010, agreed.<\/p>\n

But consideration of the post-Luj\u00e1n era is already in full swing. Carl Trujillo<\/a>, the Democrat who nearly unseated Luj\u00e1n in the 2010 Democratic primary and is running again this year, released this statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fully anticipated this possibility and we wish Mr. Luj\u00e1n and his family well.\u00a0We plan to make no changes to our campaign.\u00a0We have always considered our opponent to be the entire political machine, not just one man.\u00a0More than ever, now\u2019s our time to create the change we need.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As for what\u2019s next for Luj\u00e1n in his battle with a cancer that has spread beyond his lungs, here\u2019s what Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings was quoted by the Albuquerque Journal<\/a> as saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough road, but he can rise to the occasion. \u2026 He always has.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAn era is about to end,\u201d The Santa Fe New Mexican wrote about House Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n\u2019s announcement on Tuesday that he has stage 4 lung cancer and won\u2019t seek re-election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[156,249,107],"class_list":["post-35277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2012-election","tag-ben-lujan","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}