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Susana Martinez

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Susana Martínez
31st Governor of New Mexico
Assumed office
January 1, 2011
LieutenantJohn Sanchez
Preceded byBill Richardson
Personal details
Born (1959-07-14) July 14, 1959 (age 65)
El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican Party
(1995–present)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic Party
(Before 1995)
SpouseChuck Franco
ChildrenCarlo
ResidenceGovernor's Mansion
Alma materUniversity of Texas, El Paso
University of Oklahoma
ProfessionProsecutor
District attorney
SignatureSusana Martinez
WebsiteOfficial website

Susana Martinez (born July 14, 1959) is the 31st and current governor of New Mexico.[1][2] A Republican, Martinez is the first female governor of New Mexico,[3] as well as the first female Hispanic governor in the United States.[4][5][6][7]

She was formerly the district attorney for the 3rd Judicial District of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The district encompasses Doña Ana County, New Mexico.

Childhood and family

Susana was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the mid 1980s. Martínez comes from a middle class background. Her father was an amateur boxer who won three straight Golden Gloves titles in the 1950s. He was a deputy sheriff for El Paso County, Texas.

Martínez's husband, Chuck Franco, has been a law enforcement officer for more than 30 years and served as the Doña Ana County Undersheriff. Susana has one stepson, Carlo, who serves in the United States Navy.

On September 9, 2011, Martinez admitted to the public that her paternal grandparents immigrated to the country illegally.[8]

Education

Susana graduated as one of the top students in her class at Riverside High School of El Paso, Texas in 1977. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1980 and later earned her law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1982.[9]

Career

Susana was first elected district attorney in the 3rd Judicial District in 1996 with nearly 60% of the vote. She was re-elected three times since then as a Republican.[10] As a prosecutor, Martínez focused on cases involving public corruption and child abuse.

In 2008, Heart Magazine named Susana “Woman of the Year” for her dedication to children’s advocacy and her efforts to keep children safe.[10]

In March 2010, Susana was named New Mexico's "Prosecutor of the Year" by the Prosecutors Section of the State Bar of New Mexico.[11]

Political views

According to her 2010 gubernatorial campaign website, Martinez is pro-life and is opposed to elective abortion. She supports parental notification laws for minors under 13-years-old who seek an abortion. She is also opposed to same-sex marriage. Martínez supports a balanced budget and lower government spending. She favors putting taxpayer money into a rainy day fund, and refunding taxpayers to attempt to stimulate growth.

Martínez has promised to revamp the state's education plan by investing in private education.[12] She will seek to repeal state laws that provide illegal immigrants access to driver’s licenses as well as deny children of illegal immigrants access to higher education through the New Mexico Lottery Scholarship.[13] Martinez opposes New Mexico's medical marijuana program, but has indicated that repealing New Mexico's existing law is not a priority.[14]

After taking office, she has pushed for an increase in private investment to complete the US$212 million state-funded[15] Spaceport America project. In order to drive the new effort, Gov. Martinez appointed an entirely new board of directors to oversee the Spaceport Authority.[16]

2010 New Mexico gubernatorial bid

Main article: New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2010

Susana Martínez won the Republican nomination for Governor of New Mexico in the primary election on June 1, 2010; she won 51% of the vote in a five-way contest. Martinez defeated PR firm owner Doug Turner, State Representative Janice Arnold-Jones, Pete Domenici, Jr. (son of the former U.S. Senator from New Mexico Pete Domenici), and former Republican Party state chairman Allen Weh.[17] During the primary election campaign, Martínez was endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.[18]

Martínez defeated Diane Denish in the general election in November 2010. One element of her platform was to secure the United States - Mexico border from illegal immigrants. The Denish vs. Martínez race and the simultaneous Jari Askins vs. Mary Fallin race in Oklahoma were the third and fourth cases of woman vs. woman gubernatorial races in U.S. history (after the elections of Kay Orr in Nebraska in 1986 and Linda Lingle in Hawaii in 2002).

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New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2010
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Susana Martinez - John Sanchez 321,219 53.29% +22.10%
Democratic Diane Denish - Brian Colon 280,614 46.55% −22.27%
Republican Kenneth Gomez (write-in) 994 0.16%
Majority 40,605 6.74% −30.90%
Turnout 602,827
Republican gain from Democratic

In Office

Since Susana Martinez has taken office, she has set out a budget proposal for fiscal year 2012,[19] as well has establishing a moratorium on all state vehicle purchases till 2012.[20] Martinez has also prohibited all state agencies from hiring lobbyists, limiting the claim of executive privilege to help promote a more transparent government, and has created a small business friendly task force.[20][21]

On January 31, 2011 Governor Martinez signed an executive order rescinding sanctuary status for illegal immigrants who commit crimes in New Mexico while protecting victims and witnesses of criminal acts.[22]

References

  1. ^ Memoli, Mike. NM Gov: Martinez Wins GOP Nod, Real Clear Politics, June 2, 2010.
  2. ^ Davis, Susan. Political Trivia: New Mexico Marks a Milestone,Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2010.
  3. ^ "New Mexico elects nation's 1st Hispanic female governor". Associated Press. Houston Chronicle. November 3, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Mariela Rosario (November 3, 2010). "New Mexico's Susana Martinez Elected the First Latina Governor in the U.S". Latina. Retrieved September 19, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Noreen Malone (November 3, 2010). "Susana Martinez, First Latina Governor, Will Be Tough on Border Security". Slate. Retrieved September 19, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Sharyl Stockstill (November 3, 2010). "New Mexico elects Susana Martinez, first female Hispanic governor". Yahoo! News. Retrieved September 19, 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Nation's first female Hispanic governor elected". MSNBC. November 2, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  8. ^ "New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez Confirms that Grandparents Were Undocumented". Fox News Latino. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  9. ^ Ramón Rentería (October 24, 2010). "'Bossy' El Paso girl Susana Martinez a born leader". El Paso Times. Retrieved September 19, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b "Our Candidates: Susana Martinez". Free & Strong America PAC. Retrieved 20 August 2010. [dead link]
  11. ^ "In Case Your Missed it! Martínez Named Prosecutor of the Year". Susana Martinez for Governor. March 4, 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.[dead link]
  12. ^ "On the Issues". Susana Martínez for Governor. Retrieved 20 August 2010.[dead link]
  13. ^ Susana Martínez for Governor (Border security)[dead link]
  14. ^ Milan Simonich (January 7, 2011). "New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez to ignore marijuana law". El Paso Times. Retrieved September 19, 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "New era draws closer: Spaceport dedicates runway on New Mexico ranch". El Paso Times. 2010-10-23. Retrieved 2011-02-16. two-thirds of the $212 million required to build the spaceport came from the state of New Mexico... The rest came from construction bonds backed by a tax approved by voters in Doña Ana and Sierra counties.
  16. ^ "Martinez pushes private funds for spaceport". Cibola Beacon. 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2011-02-16. Martinez said ... "New Mexico's taxpayers have made a significant investment in the Spaceport project. It's time to see the project through to completion by bringing in private funding."
  17. ^ Massey, Barry (June 2, 2010). "Martinez wins GOP gubernatorial primary". Clovis News Journal. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  18. ^ Miller, Sean J. Palin helps New Mexico Republican win primary, The Hill, June 1, 2010.
  19. ^ http://budget.nmdfa.state.nm.us/content.asp?CustComKey=201583&CategoryKey=201584&pn=Page&DomName=budget.nmdfa.state.nm.us
  20. ^ a b http://www.governor.state.nm.us/uploads/FileLinks/1e77a5621a1544e28318ba93fcd47d49/EO-2011-008.pdf
  21. ^ http://www.governor.state.nm.us/uploads/FileLinks/1e77a5621a1544e28318ba93fcd47d49/EO-2011-004.pdf
  22. ^ http://www.governor.state.nm.us/uploads/FileLinks/20e5f2e740f34a2297a940e2bacdfcce/110131_1.pdf
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Susana Martinez.
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of New Mexico
2011–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Vice President Order of Precedence of the United States
Within New Mexico 		Succeeded by
Mayor of city
in which event is held
Succeeded by
Preceded byas Governor of Oklahoma Order of Precedence of the United States
Outside New Mexico 		Succeeded byas Governor of Arizona

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