What kind of mark has Ben Ray Luján made during his first eight months in Congress?

The Nambé native, who represents New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District, is a freshman representative in a huge freshman class. He's one of 52 new members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"I think it's fair to say Congressman Luján has not exactly burst upon the national scene in any significant way," pundit Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, recently told The New Mexican. "But that's true for the vast majority of freshmen, who are wise to be relatively unseen and unheard for their first few years. After all, they need to learn the ropes and get used to the House rules, their committee assignments and colleagues.

The Politico, an online publication of political news and commentary, early this year mentioned Luján's name as a possible rising star.

"The 2008 Democratic class has put rookies like Pennsylvania Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, New Mexico Rep. Ben R. Luján, New York Rep. Dan Maffei and Colorado Rep. Jared Polis on the map. But it's way too early to tell which members of this class will establish themselves as prominent voices inside the party — in fact, it's too tough at this point to tell who will even retain their seats if 2010 proves to be a tough midterm cycle for Democrats."

A profile in Congressional Quarterly, a Washington-based legislative and political news service, said of Luján, "He follows in the active environmentalist mold of his predecessor, Democrat Tom Udall, who moved to the Senate," and noted Luján "has shown some of the political skills of his father, a well-known veteran dealmaker in New Mexico and speaker of the state House."

The CQ piece also noted that Luján is known for answering questions with polished replies that sound like his news releases.

Sabato said it's hard to say how long it usually takes for a congressman to start to make a big splash in D.C. "A lot depends on the committees they sit on and whether those committees take on a highly visible role in a Congress. Luck has a lot to do with it."

But Sabato said there's little hurry for Luján to become known as a power player. "Luján has a safe seat," he said, "so he has a long time horizon compared to those from more competitive districts."

His record so far

Upon entering Congress, Luján was appointed to two House committees — Homeland Security and Science and Technology. On the latter, he was appointed vice chairman of the Technology and Innovation subcommittee. Congressional Quarterly says Luján has used both of his committee assignments to help Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Luján also was appointed chairman of a Hispanic Caucus task force on renewable energy and "green jobs." Luján was among a group of congressmen who pushed to add almost $1 billion for job training and education programs to the energy bill that passed the House in June. He's also co-sponsored legislation to encourage "net metering." This is a concept in which electric companies would credit customers for power they generate at homes and offices with solar panels or other sources.

And nobody is going to run political ads proclaiming, "Ben Ray Luján didn't show up to work."

According to The Washington Post's Votes Data Base, based on votes cast through the end of July, Luján has missed only five roll calls since being sworn in Jan. 1. One of those missed votes was on a motion to adjourn. That translates to a 99.3 percent attendance record. In other words, he shows up.

And he's loyal. The Post says Luján has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues more than 99 percent of the time. A Congressional Quarterly study shows his loyalty rating is somewhat lower for bills on which the president has taken a position. Luján has voted with Obama's wishes 91 percent of the time.

So far, Luján has sponsored 10 bills — all of which relate to New Mexico. One of those has passed out of the House. This was the National Environmental Research Parks Act, which formally authorizes funding for seven research parks at Los Alamos National Laboratory and six other national labs. In July, the bill passed the full House 330 to 96. Though all of those who voted against the bill were Republicans, the measure did have bipartisan support. One of Luján's five co-sponsors was a Republican.

It went on to the Senate, where it was assigned to the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

The bill would require the Department of Energy to contract with universities or colleges with expertise in ecology and environmental science from park's region to ensure the independence of the research and monitoring.

"We're taking advantage of existing property so we can better understand what's happening around there," Luján said in a recent interview.

Research parks at LANL and other sites have been operating for several years, but the funding for the research comes from a hodgepodge of sources. Luján's bill would authorize $5 million for each of the parks, coming from the Department of Energy's budget.

Although he seems to be spending most of his time on energy issues, Luján last month took his first overseas trip as a congressman. He traveled with four Republicans and another Democrat to Iraq and Afghanistan. There he met with military personnel from New Mexico as well as commanders, diplomats and leaders of those two war-torn nations.

Luján said in Afghanistan, he met with that country's only female prosecutor. He said he learned that about one-third of the students in Afghan schools are girls, which represents progress. Still, he said, the country has a long way to go in human rights and women's rights.

He said seeing the country didn't change his mind about voting in favor last May of an amendment that would have required an exit strategy for U.S. troops there. The measure was defeated on the House floor. Luján was one of 138 to vote for it.

While running on a doveish stance on the Iraq war last year, Luján in June voted to fund the war. He was one of 226 to vote for a $106 billion bill to ensure financing for war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over the coming months. Democratic supporters said the bill provided the remaining funding needed to help accomplish the end of the Iraq war.

Luján's position brought criticism from Adam Kokesh, his possible Republican opponent in next year's general election. "Posturing against war while voting to fund it is unacceptable," Kokesh said in a news release.

Who's paying for his campaigns?

According to the Center for Responsive Politics' Web site, OpenSecrets.Org, Luján raised more than $1.5 million for the 2008 election — in which he had a tough primary fight — and more than $300,000 so far for the 2010 election.

His largest single base of financial support comes from labor union political action committees. Labor PACs have given him $174,000 since 2007.

His next largest group of contributors are lawyers and lobbyists, who have given him more than $163,000. Luján has a stated policy of not accepting money from people who lobby Congress, though he has taken more than $23,000 from a Who's Who of those who lobby the state Legislature in Santa Fe.

Those involved with miscellaneous businesses have contributed more than $160,000, and individuals and PACs associated with the finance, insurance and real-estate sector have kicked in $158,000.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.