Michelle Lujan Grisham: 5 things to know about Biden's possible VP contender
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now that former Vice President Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the search for his running mate is on and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has been mentioned as a possible VP.
Lujan Grisham is one of a handful of governors on getting VP speculation, and could bring fresh experience governing a state through the coronavirus crisis to the Democratic ticket -- Biden hasn't held an official government position since he and former President Obama left office in Jan. 2017.
Here are five things to know about one of the top contenders in the 2020 veepstakes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is one of the many possible VP picks for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. (Reuters/Mike Segar)
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She was previously a member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Lujan Grisham represented New Mexico in the House of Representatives from 2012 until she was elected governor in 2018.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While in Congress, Lujan Grisham served as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, experience that could help a potential Biden administration build bridges with Congress as it seeks to advance its agenda.
She was also in the New Mexico cabinet
Lujan Grisham's experience doesn't stop at Congress or the New Mexico governor's mansion. She was a "longtime state Cabinet secretary at both the New Mexico Department of Aging and Long-term Services and Department of Health" according to her biography on the New Mexico state website.
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From that experience, the bio says, she "has been a leading advocate for senior citizens, veterans and the disabled as well as investments in health care infrastructure and innovative programming that has improved access and quality of care for New Mexicans across the state."
She comes from a political family
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lujan Grisham's family is a political dynasty in New Mexico.
Her grandfather was the chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, according to Politico. Additionally, her uncle was a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives and the vice chairman of the New Mexico GOP.
She was for increasing the minimum wage before it became such a high-profile issue
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Lujan Grisham was one of 175 cosponsors on the 2015 "Raise the Wage Act," which would have raised the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour.
While Democrats in 2020 have largely adopted calls for a $15 minimum wage, Lujan Grisham's willingness to sponsor a bill raising the minimum wage as far back as 2015 could help satisfy progressives suspicious of Biden, who won the Democratic primary largely by appealing to the "moderate lane" of voters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She sponsored a bill to ban assault weapons
Lujan Grisham was one of 149 cosponsors on a 2015 bill to ban assault weapons.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The bill, aptly named the Assault Weapons Ban of 2015, never made it out of the House. It would have banned a laundry list of guns that include pistol grips, forward grips, folding stocks, magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds and shotguns with revolving cylinders.