US Midterms 2026
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Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat who has represented New Mexico in the U.S. Senate since 2021, is seeking a second term against Republican Larry Marker in 2026.
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Recent media coverage for Ben Ray Luján.
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and four other Democratic senators are demanding that American broadcasters disclose their dealings with the Trump administration and reimburse taxpayers for airing…
Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján maintained a sizable lead over Republican challenger Larry Marker, an Albuquerque Journal poll showed on Wednesday.
MarkerSenator Ben Ray Luján reintroduced legislation aimed at strengthening child protections and safety standards within the agriculture industry.
Luján leads among independents (54% vs. 26%), across all age groups, and in most regions except the conservative east
The article describes how the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) incorporates years of wildfire-lesson guidance and reflects New Mexico priorities championed by Senator Ben Ray Luján.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee, led by Ranking Member Ron Wyden and joined by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Elizabeth Warren, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Ben Ray Luján, and Peter Welch, urged Meta to…
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Ben Ray Luján was born on June 7, 1972, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the youngest child of Carmen and Ben Luján, and he was raised in Nambe. His father won a county commission seat in 1970 and from 1975 served in the New Mexico House of Representatives, where he served as majority whip and speaker.
After finishing Pojoaque Valley High School in 1990, Luján dealt blackjack at a tribal casino, studied at the University of New Mexico and completed a Bachelor of Business Administration at New Mexico Highlands University.
Luján won a seat on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in November 2004, chaired it in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and left at the end of 2008; during that period he helped raise the state's renewable portfolio standard.
In 2008 he won the open seat for New Mexico's 3rd congressional district, vacated by Tom Udall, after taking 42 percent in a six-candidate Democratic primary and 57 percent in the general election, and he was reelected in each election from 2010 through 2018.
In the House he chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2014 to 2019 and was assistant speaker from 2019 to 2021, making him the highest-ranking Hispanic member of Congress in that period.
In 2020 he won the Senate seat Udall was leaving, defeating Republican Mark Ronchetti 51.7 percent to 45.6 percent, and took office on January 3, 2021. After a stroke in January 2022 he was hospitalized and resumed work at the Senate on March 3, 2022.
Luján describes himself as a progressive Democrat, and he shares the role of dean of the state's congressional delegation with Senator Martin Heinrich.
Luján is running for a second Senate term in the November 3, 2026, election. In the Democratic primary on June 2, 2026, he received 83.7 percent of the vote against Matt Dodson, an Air Force veteran from Farmington. His Republican opponent is Larry Marker, a former oil and gas operator who won the nomination as a write-in candidate after the Republican primary ballot listed no qualified candidates.
