NMSU Hands Ben Ray Luján a Solo Keynote Stage, Shuts Out His Republican Challenger

University invited Republican and Democratic candidates in the governor’s race and both congressional contests — but gave Ben Ray Luján a keynote platform without inviting his Republican opponent

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — New Mexico State University’s Domenici Public Policy Conference bills itself as a bipartisan showcase of the state’s biggest races. For every contest but one, it lived up to that billing.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull is on the schedule. So is his Democratic counterpart’s running mate — Governor candidate Deb Haaland, unable to attend personally, is sending Lieutenant Governor candidate Stephanie Garcia Richard to represent the ticket. Both candidates in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, Republican Greg Cunningham and Democratic incumbent Gabe Vasquez, are on the program as well.

Then there’s the U.S. Senate race. NMSU gave Sen. Ben Ray Luján the single most prominent speaking slot of the entire conference — a solo keynote lunch address on September 9, with no opposing voice on the stage, the schedule, or the invitation list. His Republican challenger, Larry Marker, was never invited at all.

“This is viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple,” said Larry Marker, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. “When it comes to this Senate race, NMSU decided to platform only one side of the aisle.”

NMSU’s own promotional materials for the conference emphasize its mission to bring “some of the nation’s top lawmakers” to engage with students on “timely topics.” A one-sided Senate address does the opposite: it deprives attendees of the very debate the conference claims to exist for.

Marker is calling on NMSU to explain publicly why the university’s only unopposed platform this fall belongs to the Democratic incumbent.

Larry Marker is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, running to unseat Ben Ray Luján.

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