Link: Jemez leader joins crowded House race - SantaFeNewMexican.com.
For Benny Shendo Jr., the idea of working in Washington, D.C., didn't really hit him until he worked for another man who's trying to return there.
In Gov. Bill Richardson's cabinet as secretary of the Indian Affairs Department, Shendo said, he saw how the now-presidential candidate put politics to effective use.
"I've always had an interest in politics and in helping the disadvantaged," he said, "and I've always seen education as the key, but I think I began to see how much an individual could make a difference." Shendo, who stepped down as secretary this month, will formally announce today at his home in Jemez Pueblo that he's running for Congress.
Shendo, 43, is part of a growing Democratic field seeking to represent Northern New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District. Five-term U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, a Democrat, is stepping down to run for the U.S. Senate, and all New Mexico's House seats are in play because of the planned retirement of longtime U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican.
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