Valerie Plame, famed ex-CIA operative, running for House seat in New Mexico
Former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, who was famously outed by a State Department official in the President George W. Bush administration, is running for the open seat in New Mexico's 3rd District, she announced Thursday.
Plame became the subject of national attention after the State Department official leaked Plame's undercover identity to a Washington Post reporter in an effort to undercut the credibility of her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson. Wilson had openly questioned the Bush administration's justification for going to war to stop Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction.
The episode led to the conviction of Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, for lying to investigators.
Plame is one of many Democrats who have announced an interest in the 3rd District seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who announced he would run for Senate after Democratic Sen. Tom Udall said he would retire after this term.
"My career in the CIA was cut short by partisan politics, but I'm not done serving our country. We need more people in Congress with the courage to stand up for what's right," Plame said in a statement.
Plame highlighted access to affordable health care and rising prescription drug costs as issues she hopes to address in Washington.
"Everyone is losing under the health care system we have today except for insurance and drug companies," she said.
Whoever emerges from the Democratic primary in New Mexico's 3rd District will likely be the favorite to win the general election. Hillary Clinton defeated Trump there by 15 points in 2016, and Lujan has cruised to reelection in the district five times.
_CQ-Roll Call
