Yesterday (Jan. 10) we wrote how longtime state rep Sheryl Williams Stapleton is getting a challenger in the Democratic primary this year.

Today, we talked with the woman who admits she’s got an uphill battle to unseat Stapleton, who has represented District 19 in southeast Albuquerque for the last 17 years.

Cara Valente-Compton is a 43-year-old UNM law student who’s married with four kids at home and while she still hasn’t officially announced her candidacy, she told Capitol Report New Mexico that she’s already met with ward and precinct officials and hosted a meeting with 25 neighborhood activists. “My strategy is to knock on every single door in the district,” Valente-Compton said during a telephone interview.

Last month, Stapleton drew national attention when she angrily accused a Republican colleague during a lunchbreak in a committee meeting of “carrying the Mexican’s water on the fourth floor,” referring to Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, whose offices are located on the fourth floor of the state capitol building. Stapleton later apologized but refused to step down as Democratic House Majority Whip.

Did the Stapleton outburst play into Valente-Compton’s decision to run?

“Of course it did,” Valente-Compton said, “but it’s not the primary reason why I’ve decided to run. But we do have to elevate the tone in Santa Fe … we’re professional people and we have to treat others, and those we disagree with, with respect …. I was raised by Republicans, you have to honor and respect them.”

But Valente-Compton is not a conservative Democrat. “I’m a liberal Democrat,” Valente-Compton said and a glance at some of the posts on her Facebook page confirms that.

“I share a lot of the same values and opinions [as Stapleton, one of the most liberal members of the Roundhouse]. But I think it’s going to come down to a race about the tone in our political discourse … I don’t ever want to say anything about an opponent that I didn’t want to come out of the mouths of my own children.”

Despite Stapleton’s recent trouble, she has built up a great deal of support among Democratic activists, union leaders and has tremendous name recognition in District 19. In Stapleton’s most recent re-election campaign, she had no challenger in the party primary and won in the general election with 68 percent of the vote.

“It will be an uphill battle,” Valente-Compton said. “She’s the incumbent, the whip, but I’m ready to go all out. I’m very good at not just making relationships with people, but nurturing them.

In 2010, Valente-Compton was selected as a Truman Scholar – a highly competitive national scholarship that goes to college juniors who demonstrate “leadership potential and a commitment to public service” — and is using the $30,000 she was awarded to fund her law school studies.

“I’ve always been politically active, even as a child. I wrote [President Richard] Nixon a letter in crayon … I was four years old … I was mad because one of his press conferences pre-empted my cartoons … He wrote me back.”

Truman was famous for saying if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

We’ll soon see what kind of heat Valente-Compton can generate in the District 19 primary race.