Ben Lujan, the speaker of New Mexico's House of Representative and the father of...

Ben Lujan, the speaker of New Mexico's House of Representative and the father of U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, has died.

A spokesman for the congressman said the elder Lujan had succumbed to lung cancer late Tuesday night. The Santa Fe Democrat spent nearly 40 years in the chamber before he announced on the first day of the session this year that he would not seek re-election. He shocked fellow lawmakers and others then as he disclosed his lung cancer diagnosis.

He first won election in 1975. He was one of the longest serving lawmakers in the Legislature. He also was one of the most influential.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/KOAT7/posts/10152361547670511

julia child Ron Palillo Texas A&m katy perry Chad Johnson Twitter Helen Gurley Brown Kathi Goertzen