This is deconstructed. I'm Ryan Grimm. At the beginning of the classic novel,

The Count of Monte Cristo, the hero Edmón Dante, is a young man and the world is his oyster.

He's engaged to be married, well-loved in the community, successful professionally, yet

in spite of his own general innocence, he's brought low by political intrigue and locked away in

prison for life. But he escapes and spends the rest of the book solving the mystery of how he was

put away and exacting the most satisfying revenge, blow by blow. A contemporary version of the

Alexander Dumas masterpiece played out over the last decade in New Mexico. In 2008, Eric Griego

knocked out a long-time establishment Democrat to win a New Mexico State Senate seat and went

about trying to change the system from the inside. Instead, he was chewed up and spit out by the

state's Democratic machinery. In 2012, he eyed an exit strategy, a run for an open U.S. House seat.

Only one congressional primary in New Mexico promises to have some drama. The race on the Democrat side

to replace representative Martin Heinrich. Also, eyeing that seat was Marty Chavez, a local mayor.

Chavez points to his three terms as mayor. There are candidates to talk, and there are candidates

that do. A direct jab at his opponent, Eric Griego. And Michelle Lujan Grisham, a rising star in

the party establishment from a centuries-old political dynasty. Maybe it's because she can trace her

heritage back 12 generations. But whatever the reason Michelle Lujan Grisham understands New Mexico's

values. The battle between insurgent House challengers and establishment Democrats first got

national attention in 2018 when the four members of the squad swept their way to office. But that

fight had been bubbling for years, and this race was an early harbinger. National progressive

groups rallied behind Griego and also zeroed in on another Democratic primary in Congress,

where progressive Lori Saldana was running against the far more conservative Democrat Scott

Peters in California. I covered this moment in a chapter of my book We've Got People,

...