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This November, New Mexico’s future is on the line
Susana Martinez
In the few weeks since the primary election, I have been inspired by the response I have received traveling our great state. I engaged in the “Take Back New Mexico” tour, visiting voters in Albuquerque, Española, Las Vegas, Farmington, Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Hobbs, Artesia, Roswell and Las Cruces.
In each of these stops, as well as in my travels over the course of the last year, one common refrain has reverberated: New Mexico needs bold change.
Voters are fed up with the waste, abuse, corruption, debt and explosion in government growth. They understand one very simple fact: By any and every estimate, New Mexico is worse off today compared to eight years ago.
Turning our state around requires leadership committed to changing the way business is done in Santa Fe. We need someone who has taken on corruption, someone who has executive experience and has met a budget, and someone who has held to account those who violate the public trust.
That’s my track record. That’s what I’ve accomplished in more than a decade as the Doña Ana County district attorney. And that record, coupled with my vision and plans for this state, is the basis for my candidacy.
For the last year, I have spoken boldly on issues such as energy, the economy, public safety, education and immigration. I have published editorials and argued these issues in debates in front of my fellow citizens.
And New Mexicans understand that I am someone who believes this government spends too much, runs afoul of the law too often and places the burden of its incompetence and recklessness on the shoulders of taxpayers and small businesses.
Real differences
There are real differences between myself and Diane Denish.
Denish has been lieutenant governor for nearly eight years. On her watch, we have lost jobs, small businesses have left the state, government has grown 50 percent, graduation rates have suffered and corruption has run amok.
These aren’t subjective points. They are factual. This is what has occurred during her tenure as the No. 2 official in our state. It’s reality.
Now, Denish can certainly argue she isn’t responsible for the negative developments that took place during the Richardson/Denish administration, but frankly, it is an intellectually dishonest argument New Mexicans won’t buy. The “it’s not my fault” defense won’t work.
We simply can’t afford four more years of the same, tired, bankrupt approach to governing. If voters believe the current administration has been a success, they have a candidate in Denish, who is essentially an incumbent seeking re-election.
Making sure voters know the truth
But I believe this campaign will be about where each of us stands on the issues that matter to voters. My campaign reached out to Denish’s and inquired about putting aside the negative advertising for awhile so we could talk about jobs, education and corruption, but the response was no.
It is unfortunate that Denish refuses to dedicate herself to talking about what has happened for the last eight years and why that effectively defines what will happen in the next four. Instead, she chooses the path of smears and gross distortions because she knows that she cannot run and win on her own record.
I am proud of having served as an advocate for the most defenseless in my community, prosecuting those who commit heinous acts against women, children and senior citizens. I will not apologize for dedicating my professional career to taking on those who violate our laws and bringing them to justice.
So, in the absence of being able to defend her record, it is clear Denish has decided to try and distort mine. I will continue to speak to the important issues confronting our state and I will take my message of bold change to New Mexicans, but I will always set the record straight and make sure voters know the truth.
Voters will support bold change
The next five months will offer New Mexicans an opportunity to better understand what they can expect from each of the candidates. I will continue to identify instances where state government has failed us and what I would do to correct the problem and change the way business is done in the Roundhouse, and I suspect Denish will continue to make excuses for what has taken place over the last eight years and attempt to malign my tenure as district attorney.
But the voters in New Mexico will make the ultimate decision as to who is best equipped and prepared to make our state a better, stronger place once elected in November and inaugurated in January. I am confident this fall they will support an agenda of bold change that challenges the status quo and delivers real results.
Martinez is the Doña Ana County district attorney and Republican gubernatorial nominee.
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Oh, and Chimayo – I publish comments that comply with this site’s comments policy (http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/policies/).
LC Guy – I’m not supporting anyone in this race. Did you not get from the tone of my column on negative campaigning (http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/2010/06/rejecting-negative-campaigning/) how fed up I am with what they’ve both been doing?
It’s my hope and plan to scrutinize each and every negative ad that either runs from here on out. I started with Martinez’s last ad (http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/2010/06/analyzing-martinez%e2%80%99s-ad-both-candidates-spin-the-facts/) and most recently I scrutinized Denish’s (http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/2010/06/denish%e2%80%99s-new-ad-makes-an-unsubstantiated-leap/).
If your point is my running this column, I have run several commentaries from both candidates, and both have an open invitation to submit more.
Chimayo-Heath is a Martinez supporter. I appreciate he tries to cover both sides, but at the end of the day, he’s supporting Susana.
Why did you remove my comment Heath? You’re supposed to be fair and unbiased. Thanks for letting us know who you really are……
Sounds like The Universal, Hemingway, rdmtndem, llaj, sugar and ched macquigg are clutching at straws. Either they are not keeping up with what is going on, or they are running scared from reality. The message has been there all along guys and slamming Susana Martinez will not change the outcome.
The majority of the people in this state are tired of being taxed to death, lied to, cheated out of proper representation and downright theft of their votes, while people like Richardson and Denish (who were tied at the hip for eight years) spending their tax dollars on foolish endeavors. Get over it guys! The clock has moved on to a new era.
Get on board with the winners in the race and forget the losers. When the ship is sinking you can either go down with it and die a martyr, or you can get in the lifeboat and save yourself and your neighbors.
Was there an actual idea for improving anything here? Did I miss it?
As much as I think Denish should not be rewarded for her complicity and/or complacence regarding the culture of corruption in Santa Fe, I can help but wish Martinez would articulate some actual plan for changing things.
Now that we know oil companies do not always tell the truth (BP) will Martinez keep the pit rule. That is a question she should have to answer.
Oh, all you progressives attacking Susana. So “rdmtndem” says that “Susanna Martinez thinks most voters are dumb enough to believe that Diane Denish as Lt. Governor had any authority over state government.” Then what on earth was Princess Di doing all these years in Santa Fe? Oh yeah, she was Richardson’s “loyal soldier.”
If the Lt. Governor office is so worthless and has no authority then let’s eliminate it.
Hemmingway, i’ll take 15 years of putting criminals of all kinds behind bars any day over some partisan party boss who’s been in politics since the day she was born.
If Ms. Martinez is so worried about voters knowing the truth, she should tell the voters what she is giving a
Texas land developer in return for his $450,000 donation to her campaign. That size of donation is unprecedented and the man who gave the money is infamous for his Swift Boat group who lied and smeared John Kerry’s honorable war record. Accepting $450,000 from a know liar and unethical political operative is not the way to gain voters’ trust.
Too bad Susanna Martinez thinks most voters are dumb enough to believe that Diane Denish as Lt. Governor had any authority over state government. The Martinez campaign continues to tout the same old “bold change” mantra with no substance behind it. I’m certain Susanna Martinez will drag out every victim who she dealt with to demonstrate what a tough lawyer she is, and I say “so what”. “What does that have to do with running the state with billions of dollar and thousands of employees and programs at stake”?
The real issue in the gubernatorial race is the lack of any accomplishments of Ms. Susana Martinez. Ms. Martinez has been the State’s Attorney office for over 15 years – her only work experience after getting her a law degree from Oklahoma.
There is nothing in this statement that is concrete – only generalities!
Susana, What are the bold ideas that constitute bold change? What are your bold plans for business, job growth, education? Will you boldly tell us? All I have heard so far is a lot of not-so-bold whining. Let’s hear about what you’re going to boldly do, beyond printing up t-shirts and bumper stickers with bold letters that spell “bold change”.