Topic summary
Ben Ray Luján

Ben Ray Luján ( ; born June 7, 1972) is an American politician serving since 2021 as the juniorUnited States senator from New Mexico. From 2009 to 2021, he represented New Mexico's 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives; he served as assistant speaker from 2019 to 2021. Luján is a self-described progressive Democrat.
Before being elected to Congress, Luján served as a member of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission from 2005 to 2008, where he was also chairman. He and Senator Martin Heinrich are the co-deans of New Mexico's congressional delegation. Luján served as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2014 to 2019; Democrats won a House majority in the 2018 elections. In his role as assistant House Democratic leader, Luján was the highest-ranking Hispanic in Congress.
In 2020, Luján was elected to the Senate. He is running for reelection in 2026.