Last week, Luján joined Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) in sending a letter that cited low property costs, a skilled population, and the potential for job creation as reasons to locate a new USPTO branch in central New Mexico.

Currently the only other regional patent office is located in Detroit, Mich. The Act preserves this office and requires that two more offices be created in order to reduce the massive backlog of patent applications.

Luján proposed an amendment to the bill while it was being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives that requires officials to take into consideration the economic impact of the new patent offices, as well as the need for local skilled personnel, when determining its location. Here’s Luján defending his amendment:

New Mexico’s First Congressional District — which encompasses Albuquerque, its suburbs and a sparsely populated rural area to the east — swung with the political winds in the past two elections. Rep. Martin Heinrich saw a 12-point victory in 2008 to become the first Democrat to represent the seat, but in 2010 he came within four points of losing. Now, he’s vacating the seat to run for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman.

Of New Mexico’s three districts, the First is unusual: It’s compact. (According to Lt. Gov Diane Denish, defeated Rep. Harry Teague used to envy the First as he was driving all around southern New Mexico after flying into El Paso or Midland.) It covers the city of Albuquerque and some — but not its fastest growing — suburbs. However, Albuquerque proper grew by nearly 22 percent from 2000 to 2010.

The Cook Political Report rates the district as +5 Democrat, and a “Lean Democrat” for 2012. But Republicans held the seat since its creation in 1969 all the way until 2009. Rep. Heather Wilson — a self-described “independent” Republican who’s also now running for Senate — represented the district beginning in 1998, winning by safe margins in all years but 2006 when she won by just 875 votes. She opted to run for Senate against Tom Udall in 2008.

With Cook rating this as New Mexico’s only competitive House race for 2012 — Reps. Steve Pearce and Ben Ray Luján are considered safe — multiple candidates have lined up for the seat. Former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish already decided against running for the seat.

State Sen. Eric Griego, who represents Albuquerque, announced his run for the seat in early May. “The conservative Republicans running the U.S. Congress have declared war on working families,” Griego said in his announcement.

He earned the Progressive Change Campaign Committee’s first endorsement of the 2012 cycle in late June. Though no other Democratic candidates had announced at the time, the PCCC urged its supporters to donate to improve his fundraising numbers because “several conservative Blue Dogs” were thinking of running. He netted $119,000 in fundraising during an abbreviated second quarter.

An old rival of Griego’s, former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, announced his run in late June. Griego had run against Chavez from the left in his 2005 mayoral re-election, only to have Chavez outspend him 4–1 and beat him by more than 20 points.

Chavez was Mayor of Albuquerque for a total of three terms. He was mayor from 1993 to 1997 and decided not to run for a second term to challenge Gov. Gary Johnson, a race he ended up losing by 10 points. He then ran for mayor successfully in 2001 and 2005. He succeeded in repealing the term limits law and ran again in 2009. However, he drew a Democratic challenger and lost to Republican Richard Barry in a three-way race.  He faced accusations of favoring city contractors and was part of a wave of incumbent fatigue during the recession.

A New Mexico Democrat told Politico that Chavez was a better fit for the “very moderate” district.” He added, “Chavez has a nice story to tell, and I think it’s helpful for Obama to have a Hispanic in that district.”

Indeed, in his announcement, Chavez said that he wanted to balance the budget and called the federal government “one of the most dysfunctional places I’ve ever seen.”

Chavez and Griego have already had spats. Over e-mail.

Chavez sent out a message to supporters assailing potential Social Security and Medicare cuts for the debt deal. “Right-wing Republicans in Washington are desperately trying to pass massive cuts to these vital programs while protecting huge tax breaks for the wealthiest few,” he wrote.

Griego contacted his supporters: “My conservative Democratic opponent in this race for Congress, Marty Chavez, sent out an e-mail on Monday calling for ‘bold progressive leadership’ — and I thought he was endorsing my campaign. But it was a campaign e-mail for himself!”

While a Chavez/Griego primary could be bruising, others have entered the race. Bernalillo County commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham announced her run this month. She came in third in the Democratic primary in 2008.

Republicans also think that they have a decent shot at the seat. One-term Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis entered the race in early April, the day after Rep. Martin Heinrich announced he was running for Senate. He described his priorities, “to help small businesses, so they can create badly needed jobs, and to protect our nation and our people from those who wish us harm.” He raised over $101,000 in the second quarter after he announced his candidacy.

Former State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones has also announced an exploratory committee for the seat. She gave up her seat to run for governor in 2010 but came in fourth place in the Republican primary with just three percent of the vote.

The outcome of the race also depends on whether President Obama can turn out supporters like he did in 2008. If the president wins the district by 20 points like he did in 2008, it becomes very difficult for a Republican to win. On the other hand, Wilson carried the district during 2004 and 2000 with a small majority of voters going for John Kerry and Al Gore.

Many analysts are pointing out the possibility that Democrats could retake the House but lose the Senate. If that’s the case, then they’d need to hold a district like the First. For Republicans, taking it would mean a good year for them.

This report is part of collaboration with WNYC’s “It’s a Free Country” to cover the 25 most captivating congressional races from around the country.

Heinrich called on Obama to “follow through on the pledge we made to the American people to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer.”

There are currently 100,000 American troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Heinrich cited the cost and length of the war in Afghanistan in his letter:

We have spent over $450 billion in Afghanistan since the start of this war. Our youngest soldiers were just eight years old when our nation was attacked on September 11, 2001. It is time we start bringing our troops home.

He also mentioned that he visited Kandahar City in May of 2010 and saw “firsthand that progress is being made.”

Obama said earlier this month that the drawdown this summer “will be significant” and “is not not just a token gesture.”

He said he would have to speak with Gen. David Petraeus before discussing any specific numbers.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Obama administration had not yet decided how many troops will come home in July.

Letter to President Obama re Afghanistan 04 25 2011

The money that Heinrich raised as a member of the House of Representatives can be fully transferred to his U.S. Senate account.

Heinrich is the first top-tier Democratic Senate candidate in the race and has shown ability to raise large sums of money in his two races so far. Heinrich raised $2.75 million in campaign cash during his successful 2010 reelection campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Republican Senate candidate Heather Wilson announced she raised $300,000 and had $281,000 at the end of the first quarter.

The Uranium Resources Stewardship Act introduced by U.S. Reps. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján would shift the regulation of uranium mining from the 1872 Mining Law to the Mineral Leasing Act and require royalty payments to federal and state governments similar to those paid by the coal, oil and gas industries.

Last year, Udall introduced SB 796, which would have studied “whether uranium should fall under the Mineral Leasing Act system and be subject to a federal royalty that is shared with the state.” But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has consistently blocked any significant reform of the 1872 Mining Law, which was passed by the Grant administration to encourage settlement of the West by miners in the late 19th century.

“It’s time to seriously consider whether uranium should still be classified as a ‘locatable mineral’ governed by the hard-rock mining laws,” Udall told the Colorado Independent last year. Critics of the U.S. uranium mining industry say it is dominated by foreign companies taking advantage of a lack of royalties on federal lands, and that too often toxic waste has been left for American taxpayers to clean up.

Udall is a proponent of reviving the U.S. nuclear power industry to combat climate change by reducing the amount of fossil fuels being consumed to produce electricity. But members of the Colorado conservation community say the state has for too long been on the hook for the “dirty front end” of the uranium mining industry.

“Taxpayers have been fleeced out of millions of dollars in royalties from uranium companies mining on public lands,” Earthworks Policy Director Lauren Pagel said in a release. “The Uranium Resources Stewardship Act charges a moderate 12.5-percent royalty on uranium, which will allow the industry to contribute to cleaning up old uranium mine sites that continue to pollute water and harm nearby communities.”

Uranium prices have dropped in recent weeks due to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, but they’re still up dramatically over the last decade, and Udall says the United States must continue to pursue new nuclear power facilities. He’s introduced a bill this session that would facilitate the construction of smaller, “modular” nuclear reactors.

Heinrich is the first top-tier Democrat to announce his candidacy for the seat that will be open after Sen. Jeff Bingaman announced he would not seek another term in office.

In his announcement video, embedded below, Heinrich says, “We’re going to have to get our finances in line, there’s no question about that, but we shouldn’t do it on the backs of teachers and firefighters. We shouldn’t do it by cutting education.”

Heinrich was the first Democrat to represent the 1st Congressional District when he was elected in 2008, and he retained the seat in 2010. He replaced Heather Wilson, who left the seat to run for Senate in 2008.

Wilson lost in the Republican primary to Steve Pearce in 2008.

Heinrich previously served on the Albuquerque city council before running for higher office.

The Associated Press reported his entrance into the race on Friday night.

In addition to Wilson, businessman Greg Sowards and columnist and activist Bill English are running for the Republican nomination.

The only other Democrat who has announced is political activist Andres Valdez.

The Decision from Martin Heinrich on Vimeo.

The Post’s Chris Cillizza cites an unnamed “source close to the decision,” adding that Bingaman has been pondering for months whether to run for a sixth term. After the November election, the New Mexico Independent reported that he said he was then “weighing retirment.” Bingaman has served in the Senate since 1983.

Cillizza writes that the likely decision is part of a Democratic strategy to get incumbents to declare their intentions about running early.

Reps. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján as well as former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish are sure to be mentioned as Democrats who could vie to replace Bingaman.

Update: Bingaman’s office confirms his retirement plans.

The 2008 election has transformed a big part of the mountain West into a Democratic redoubt. Not only did President-elect Barack Obama carry both Colorado and New Mexico, Democrats picked up two Senate seats and four congressional seats in the two states.

In New Mexico, the party hit a “grand slam” — winning all three of the state’s congressional districts and an open Senate seat, according to New Mexico Independent.

Rep. Tom Udall easily moved into [Republican Pete] Domenici’s Senate seat, defeating Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs. Similarly, Ben Ray Lujan had little problem sweeping a three-way race to replace Udall in the 3rd Congressional District.

The surprises of the night were Martin Heinrich blasting past popular Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White in CD1 and Harry Teague topping Ed Tinsley in southern New Mexico’s CD2. Both Democrats had slim leads in the polls leading up to Election Day, but substantial numbers of undecided voters apparently swung their way.

In a stunning upset in Colorado, a longshot liberal businesswoman, Betsy Markey, ousted Marilyn Musgrave, an outspoken incumbent conservative best known for her opposition to gay marriage. Markey is the first Democrat in 36 years to win the vast 4th congressional district that stretches from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains. Opponents of legal abortion in the state suffered a setback when a proposed constitutional amendment to confer the legal status of personhood on the embryonic egg cells in pregnant woman was overwhelmingly rejected by voters.

Where conservative Republicans once prevailed, moderate liberals now hold sway.