U.S. House race: Solano says Luján is man to beat in District 3

S.F. County sheriff, who will run for lieutenant governor in 2010, says influence of House speaker likely to shape race

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican

12/10/2007 -

The race to replace U.S. Rep. Tom Udall in Congress lost one potential candidate Monday — Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, who said he will stick to his original plan of running for lieutenant governor in 2010.

But Solano — who is serving his second term as sheriff and prohibited from seeking a third term — said he's concerned that a small group of Democratic Party officials could effectively choose the next Northern New Mexico congressman before any votes are cast.

And that candidate, he said, likely would be State Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján, mainly because of the influence of his father, state House Speaker Ben Luján.

Meanwhile, other candidates are emerging in the 3rd Congressional District contest.

Bennie Shendo, who has served as secretary for the state Department of Indian Affairs, said Monday that he has resigned from the position he's held for three years to run for Congress in the Democratic primary.

And on the Republican side, lawyer Marco Gonzales — a former aide to U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and a member of a prominent Santa Fe political family — said he intends to run for the seat in the GOP primary.

Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya, who has said for weeks that he'll run in the Democratic primary, will formally announce Wednesday.

Ben Ray Luján is expected to announce by the end of the week.

Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott also has said he's running for the House seat. Former state Rep. Patsy Trujillo of Santa Fe has said she's considering the race.

Udall announced last month that he's giving up the House seat he's held since 1999 to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Domenici.

Solano said Monday that there were three major concerns that led to his decision: What's best for his family, how he can "best serve the citizens of New Mexico and the Democratic Party" and "strategic reasons."

Solano said he had breakfast last week with Ben Ray Luján. "I didn't make any deals or anything," he said. "I've talked to most the candidates and people thinking of running," he said.

Ben Ray Luján is the one to beat in the race, Solano said. But he said it bothers him that the primary race could be decided by a few hundred members of the Democratic State Central Committee at its March 15 pre-primary convention.

"The majority are your county and local elected officials, those that are not elected officials are those who work to get those elected officials in office," Solano wrote last week in his campaign blog. "All of these people go to the legislature at some point and time to get things passed or obtain capital funds for their local jurisdictions.

"In no way am I alleging arm twisting or back room deals," Solano wrote, "however, how many are likely to donate money, outwardly support a candidate, or give their very important delegate vote to anyone who opposes the son of the speaker of the house (?)"

Ben Ray Luján couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Solano noted a new state law that says any candidate who doesn't receive 20 percent of the delegate vote at a political party's pre-primary convention cannot get on the primary ballot. If Luján got 50 or 60 percent of the vote, Solano said, it's conceivable that other candidates could split up the vote so nobody else would receive 20 percent of the vote.

"It concerns me that the election could be decided by just 400 or so people," he said.

Shendo said Monday that Friday is his final day as Indian Affairs secretary, to which he was appointed in 2004 by Gov. Bill Richardson.

Before that job, Shendo said, he spent the previous 15 years in various administrative posts for higher-learning institutions, most recently at The University of New Mexico, where he was senior administrative manager for Native American Programs in the Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs. Shendo also has served in high positions at his native Jemez Pueblo, including lieutenant governor.

Republican Gonzales worked for 10 years in Domenici's office. He said in a recent interview that he has been "battle-tested" after working through the senator's office to preserve Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, which had been recommended for closing in the 1990s.

"I know the inner workings of the federal agencies and will not need any on the job training when it comes to fighting for New Mexico programs administered within," Gonzales said in an e-mail.

Gonzales is the cousin of former Santa Fe County Commissioner Javier Gonzales, a Democrat who until last week was considering the 3rd Congressional District race, and the nephew of former Santa Fe Mayor George Gonzales.

Ron Dolin, a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who was the Republican nominee against Udall last year, has said he is considering the race. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by a 2-1 ratio.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.

ON THE WEB

Greg Solano's campaign blog: http://solanoltgov.blogspot.com/2007/12/in-or-out-of-congressional-district-3.html