Most in N.M. Give Gov. Good Marks (Martinez)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | September 12, 2012 | Dan Boyd

[CedarDave]

SANTA FE – Fresh off her prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention, Gov. Susana Martinez is riding high among New Mexico voters.

Sixty-nine percent said they approve of the Republican governor’s performance 20 months into her first term, a new Journal Poll found.

Just 17 percent of voters polled Sept. 3-6 said they disapprove of her job performance, while 14 percent were undecided.

Martinez, elected in 2010 with 53 percent of the vote, has pursued an apparently popular agenda, campaigning against driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, pushing for tougher school standards, opposing new taxes and trimming the size of state government without mass layoffs, Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff said.

“She’s focused on issues that are popular among the voters,” said Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc. “As a Republican governor, she has not followed the curve of other Republican governors who have tried to balance the budget by cutting Medicaid or school funding.”

~~snip~~

Approval ratings for the nation’s first elected Hispanic female governor were strong in all parts of New Mexico and among both Hispanic and Anglo voters, the Journal Poll found.

Even Democratic voters were more likely to approve than disapprove of Martinez’s job performance, with 56 percent of likely Democratic voters saying they approve of Martinez’s performance as governor and 24 percent saying they disapprove. About 20 percent of Democratic voters were undecided.

[CedarDave]

Two positive articles in the Journal today (the first being the driver's license poll
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2930047/posts).

[CedarDave]

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[DesertRhino]

Susanna won with 53 percent off the vote and now she has a nearly 70 percent approval rating. But according to the polls, supposedly this same populace is wildly pro-Obama. Nevermind that martinez is his opposite.

[matginzac]

Good posting...
That’s what I don’t get...
All the polling pundits consistently have NM blue...
Yet they voted in a pretty impressively Pub, if not conservative wise Latina.
She, among many, rocked the Pub convention (the one the MSM didn’t see).

[Chgogal]

“Damn, we're Republicans!”

I really liked her speech at the RNC.

[fieldmarshaldj]

This despite Dan Monahan’s never-ending sleazy attacks on her and her administration.

[JaguarXKE]

I hate to say it, but there are likely many people in this state who “approve” of her performance simply becuase she is hispanic. Just like there are many Obama followers who approve of him simply because he’s black. For many here, liking Susana will not necessarily translate into liking Romney - he’s the wrong heritage for some folks. (Someone can post the “That’s Racist” kid if they want, but it’s true).

[oldbrowser]

I hate to say it, but there are likely many people in this state who “approve” of her performance simply becuase she is hispanic. Just like there are many Obama followers who approve of him simply because he’s black. For many here, liking Susana will not necessarily translate into liking Romney - he’s the wrong heritage for some folks.

There is no doubt that the "hispanic" heritage is a strong influence in some of her support. Another strong influence is her conservative views. Between the two she is very popular.

Having a popular hispanic promote the views of conservatism on a statewide level can only help to provide a pathway for future GOP members.

I grew up in NM and the two parties were the liberal democrats and the conservative democrats. That plus a few outnumbered actual republicans in the southeast corner of the state. Manuel Lujan and few others established a foothold for the republicans and now Martinez is expanding it. I believe that NM has gone for a republican in 6 of the last ten presidential elections:

NEW MEXICO VOTING HISTORY Last 10 Elections

1976 R

1980 R

1984 R

1988 R

1992 D

1996 D

2000 D

2004 R

2008 D

[DLfromthedesert]

I’ll be damned, Chuck. We’re REPUBLICANS!!!! Loved her at the convention!