Manuel Lujan, Jr. He was born May 12, 1928, into the prominent family of Manuel and Lorenzita (Romero) Lujan, Sr. His father served as mayor of Santa Fe and was an unsuccessful candidate for governor and Congress. Lujan attended Catholic schools in Santa Fe and graduated from the University of Santa Fe in 1950. After college, Lujan went to work for the family insurance company, the Manuel Lujan Agencies, which his father had opened in 1925. The Albuquerque-based company remains a leading risk management and insurance firm; in 2002, it was ranked as the most profitable of New Mexico’s Hispanic-owned businesses.
Lujan also followed his father into politics, launching his first campaign with a failed bid for the New Mexico State Senate in 1964. That loss marked the last for Lujan; after defeating incumbent Rep. Tom Morris in 1968, he would serve in Congress for the next two decades.
