Posted on 11/06/2014 1:13:07 PM PST by CedarDave
Gov. Susana Martinez’s 15-point re-election win over Democratic Attorney General King was the largest margin of victory ever for a Republican governor candidate in New Mexico, one political expert said Wednesday.
The resounding win for the nation’s first female Hispanic governor, who has been touted in some quarters as part of a national GOP ticket down the road, was driven by a good showing in Bernalillo County and her unusually strong performance in northern New Mexico’s Democratic strongholds.
Traditionally, Democrats who win statewide races rely on winning Democratic-heavy counties in north-central New Mexico by margins so wide that Republican gains in the state’s Republican-leaning eastside counties are offset, political analyst Brian Sanderoff said.
But Martinez, in her re-election Tuesday, broke that mold by drawing significant support from many of the state’s Democratic-leaning counties, holding King to wins in just five of the state’s 33 counties and running well, for a Republican, even in most of those she lost.
“The governor’s campaign pulled off an impressive balancing act of winning traditional conservative areas by massive margins, while at the same time cutting into, and sometimes winning, mainstream Democratic stronghold areas,” Sanderoff said.
University of New Mexico political science professor Gabriel Sanchez said many northern New Mexico voters likely gave the governor, who is a Spanish-speaker, the benefit of the doubt on criticisms that were raised on her first-term record.
Martinez’s gains in New Mexico’s Democratic country were driven by a combination of the successful Martinez campaign outreach to those communities and King’s failure to connect with those voters, Sanchez said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
And, no, she is not interested in running for national office in 2016.
She isn’t interested now, but she is going to be very much in demand.
It would’ve been nice if she’d spent some time helping down ticket races but for some reason Governors like her and Christie don’t seem to think growing the party numbers in their home states is important. Its not just them but its a bad pattern I see where top of the ticket manages to slide through by double digits and down ticket lose by single digits.
I had the pleasure of meeting her last summer up in Red River, NM. She was holding a private meet and greet, we stumbled across it and talked our way in. She was very friendly & joked with us, once she found out we were from IL.
I’d post a picture if I knew how to do it.
She’s a conservative running in a very blue state.
Same state re-elected Democrat Tom Udall to the Senate.
And Suzanna, unlike the other Hispanic potential candidates being discussed, has not only run a State, she is a natural born citizen, both of her parents were citizens when she was born in the U.S., an issue both parties would like us to forget.
She is also a no-nonsense guardian of the law, having worked at her parent’s security firm in her younger days, and obviously has real management experience running her state. She could appoint Ted Cruz to the Supreme Court. If Roberts is impeached by Congress - the Senate - as provided for by the Constitution, for swearing in a man who honestly told us all that he is a naturalized citizen (”I wss born a subject of the British Commonwealth because my father was a British subject; by the 1948 British Nationality Act, I was also a British Subject”), she could appoint the estimable Ted Cruz Chief Justice.
I would vote for Suzanna based upon her character alone; her having Hispanic origins is will probably bring her more votes, but she represents what this nation means to most who come here, and many who’d like to.
Another one that Palin helped create.
Maybe some “Hispanics” saw the Dim candidate’s paternalistic attitude toward them for what it is - you’re Hispanics, Hispanics vote for Dims, you should vote for me - and resented it. And they likely saw Martinez did not try to pander to them as “Hispanics”, but as individuals with individual concerns - “Hispanic” or not.
Damn voter suppression...that’s all it was...
It is important to be able to speak their language, even if they understand English, in order for ideas to click.
It is important to be able to speak their language, even if they understand English, in order for ideas to click.
That was pretty much my reaction too.
One amusing campaign note is that a debate was held by the Spanish language station in ABQ. Susana was asked and answered questions in Spanish. King had to have the question translated to English and his response translated back to Spanish. It was awkward for him, to say the least.
New Mexico, being a former Spanish/Mexican colony, requires in its state constitution that election documents (and others) be prepared in both English and Spanish. This makes the ballot accessible to voters in both languages. It also shows the importance of voter ID to screen out those not eligible to vote.
love to meet her....was in Santa Fe for a few days last May....(I didn’t know that the International Gay rodeo was stationed there or I would have surely broke my neck to visit it.....NOT!)
then again why would Asians or Jews be inclined to go democratic....it makes no sense..
Fortunately Diana Duran kept her job. I think we can get voter ID and turn off the illegals licenses this time.
What is you impression of Balderas? He has a D after his name, but strikes me as not being a party hack. I guess we’ll know by who he goes after. He got more votes than anyone else in the election (a couple more than Susana).
Agree with you about Diana - hope she can get voter ID on track. Look at the crap the Rat’s pulled in Colorado to see how bad it can actually get.
Don’t know anything about Balderas, but he has jumped around having been elected to other positions. Whether he will be an effective AG or just another Democratic officeholder with a list of cronies to protect remains to be seen.
Dirty little secret in New Mexico:
47% of the people living there are Hispanic. I guess they don’t bother following what’s required of them and ONLY voting Democrat. Obviously if she won by 16%, she go a LOT of Hispanic votes.
Same thing happened in Texas, by the way. The Republicans here (in Texas), and Ms. Martinez seem to do JUST FINE being associated with a party that opposes Amnesty and Open Borders.
How?? He’s a strong fiscal and Christian conservative who believes a strong private economy and less government intrusion and regulation is the best way to grow private wealth. Of course having the O&G patch in his district helps. But that is only in the SE corner. In the rest of the district his attention to constituent concerns and holding town meetings lets voters get to know him. On immigration, he believes we must secure the border before we do anything else. He’s pragmatic on those already present in the country illegally - institute a guest worker program and require those who want to work to sign up or be deported. But no green cards, no fast path to citizenship, no special treatment. And he's equally not afraid to make those points known to the citizens. In Washington he's known for siding with views of the Tea Party and has opposed the house speaker on a number issues.
I have met Gov. Martinez 3 times now at public events in the small town I live in. She indeed did campaign with, and for local and state candidates, appearing with all the local town and county candidates. She is quite accessible and open.
Definitely. A GOP ticker of governors Scott Walker/Susan Martinez would drive the Democrats nuts.
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