Ben Ray Luján
Place of Birth: Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.
Date of Birth: June 7, 1972
Ethnicity: Mexican
Ben Ray Luján is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as a U.S. Senator from New Mexico, since January 3, 2021. He has also been a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico, from January 3, 2009 to January 3, 2021, Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, from January 3, 2015 to January 3, 2019, and Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, from January 3, 2019 to January 3, 2021, among other duties.
Ben is the son of Carmen (Ray) and Ben Luján, a politician, who was Speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives, from 2002 to 2012.
Ben’s paternal grandfather was named Celedon Luján (the son of Romolo Luján and Francisca). Celedon was a sheepherder. Romolo was the son of José Antonio Luján and María Esquipula Córdova, who was born in Picuris Pueblo, Rio Arriba.
Ben’s paternal grandmother was Nestora Lopez (the daughter of Nestor López and Maria Ramona Quintana). Nestora was born in New Mexico. Nestor was the son of Jesus Maria López and Maria Josefa Valverde.
Ben’s maternal grandfather was Luis Lujan (the son of Alberto Lujan and Virginia Vigil). Luis was born in New Mexico. Virginia was the daughter of Meliton Vigil Apodaca and Maria Cecilia Sena.
Ben’s maternal grandmother was Clotilde Gallegos (the daughter of Jose Victorino Gallegos and Clarita Martinez). Clotilde was born in New Mexico. Jose was the son of Jose Domingo Gallegos and Maria Eulalia Garcia. Clarita was the daughter of Jose Canuto Martin Serrano and Refugio Jiron.
Ben’s family has been in New Mexico for centuries. He is a fourth cousin of fellow New Mexico politician Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has been a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico, from 2013 to 2018, and Governor of New Mexico, since 2019. Ben’s paternal great-great-great-grandparents, Manuel de Jesús Luján and Antonia Trujillo, were also Michelle’s paternal great-great-great-grandparents. Ben is also a relative of New Mexico politicians Manuel Lujan, Sr. and his son Manuel Lujan, Jr.
Source: Genealogy of Ben Ray Luján (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Ben’s paternal grandmother was Nestora Lopez (the daughter of Nestor López and Maria Ramona Quintana). Nestora was born in New Mexico. Nestor was the son of Jesus Maria López and Maria Josefa Valverde.
Ben’s maternal grandfather was Luis Lujan (the son of Alberto Lujan and Virginia Vigil). Luis was born in New Mexico. Virginia was the daughter of Meliton Vigil Apodaca and Maria Cecilia Sena.
Ben’s paternal grandmother was Clotilde Gallegos (the daughter of Jose Victorino Gallegos and Clarita Martinez). Clotilde was born in New Mexico. Jose was the son of Jose Domingo Gallegos and Maria Eulalia Garcia. Clarita was the daughter of Jose Canuto Martin Serrano and Refugio Jiron.
More specifically, the Lujans are an old “Hispanos” family in New Mexicon. Hispanos are distinct ethnicity within the American Latino community in New Mexico (i.e. Mexican Americans). They trace their descent back to the original Spanish colonizers of the area and speak a different Spanish dialect than the Latinos who migrated to the state later.
Basically an upper-class elite then.
Maybe partly, but that’s not what their ethnicity is built around. Though, they did intermarry with the indigenuous peoples. It’s just that they identify with New Spain, the colony prior to the Mexican Empire and the the first Mexican Republic.
That is to say that the ethnicity is built around a pre-Mexico Mexico. Many of them would let you say that they are Mexican, but it’s not how they’d identify themselves. They’d identify themselve as Hispanos. If you’ve ever been to New Mexico, you can tell that it’s distinct from the ‘Mexican’ cultures in neighboring Arizona and Texas.