New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has a lot going for her — such as becoming the first Latina governor in American history — yet many are inclined to believe we will not be seeing Susana Martinez 2016 signs any time soon, at least for very high federal office. According to reports, Martinez has been consistent in denying an interest in pursuing the presidency or vice presidency.
Regardless, GOP leadership continues to keep Martinez on its radar, with hopes the Susana Martinez 2016 flags ultimately will fly.
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It’s difficult to ignore a Republican winning handily in a state where 47 percent of registered voters are Democrat (compared with 31 percent with her own party),
according to the National Review.
Maybe it’s being from a sparsely populated state, or being from the West, or otherwise, but Martinez is not always a household name to those who do not consider politics-watching a sport. For the uninitiated, here are seven points about the political background of an elected official who started as a prosecutor and is just beginning her second four-year term at the helm of New Mexico.
1. She served three terms as district attorney for the 3rd Judicial District in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, from 1997 until 2011.
2. As a prosecutor, she had a special interest in case of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and crimes against children.
DA Martinez successfully convicted the man who raped and murdered college student Katie Sepich, spurring the creation of Katie's Law, which mandates DNA collection during arrests of suspects of serious felonies. Gov. Martinez signed an expansion of the law in 2011 to include all felony offences. Prior to the original 2007 law, New Mexico did not collect DNA samples,
according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.
In 2013, President Obama signed the Katie Sepich Act into federal law.
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3. In March 2011, the state bar of New Mexico named Martinez "Prosecutor of the Year," according to the Albuquerque Journal.
4. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin provided her endorsement for Martinez’s first run at gaining the Republican primary nomination for governor.
5. Martinez eventually won the primary and general election to become the first woman elected as governor of New Mexico in 2010.
6. She was cited among
Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, in 2013.
7. Broadly, Martinez has made statements or taken actions that indicate an opposition to federal funding for abortions; opposes same-sex marriages; opposes restrictions on the right to bear arms; supports reducing spending to balance the New Mexico state budget; and supports a secure border while supporting denial of tuition and licenses to illegal immigrants.
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