Meet Ben
Born and raised on a small family farm in Nambé, New Mexico by a union ironworker and a public school employee, Ben Ray Luján learned the values of hard work and community service from a young age.
Ben Ray has dedicated his career to improving the lives of those in his community and his state, fighting to create good-paying jobs for hardworking New Mexican women and men, increase access to quality, affordable health care, and protect New Mexico’s natural resources.
In 2018, Ben Ray successfully chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, leading the Democratic effort to take back the majority in the U.S. House while electing the most diverse and youngest Congress in history.
As Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ben Ray is the highest-ranking Hispanic in Congress and has helped put forward a people-first legislative agenda that addresses disparities to help all Americans achieve equity, whether in access to clean water, criminal justice, lowering prescription drug prices, preventing gun violence, ensuring protections for our immigrant communities, or removing the influence of dark money in our politics.
A passionate supporter of the Equality Act, Ben Ray believes that all individuals, regardless of how they identify or who they love, should be protected from discrimination under the law. Ben Ray has also worked to combat the opioid epidemic in New Mexico by securing millions of dollars in treatment, education, and prevention funds for rural communities plagued by addiction.
A staunch advocate of campaign finance reform, Ben Ray has refused to accept corporate PAC money for his U.S. Senate campaign. He is proud to be endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, End Citizens United, and Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence.
In his downtime, Ben Ray enjoys mountain biking and working on the family farm. He continues to live in Nambé.
