Susana Martinez
As a district attorney, my job is to focus on crime and the illegal acts perpetrated against Doña Ana County’s citizens, particularly those who are most vulnerable among us – our children, seniors and disabled citizens.
I have made public safety my life’s calling. Every day in office I work toward holding to account those who break our laws, striving to make sure they don’t have the opportunity to do it again.
Certainly, as governor, my role would change significantly, but in my eyes, our state’s chief executive has a responsibility to take a lead and set a tone that illegal acts and disorder will never be tolerated.
A true and deep commitment to the rule of law and seeing it implemented fairly and consistently does not change based on the position you have in state government. But for too long, politicians in Santa Fe have been soft on crime and seemingly less focused on the rights of victims than they have been on the rights of criminals.
As governor, I will look to change the culture in the Roundhouse that seems to think law enforcement can function effectively without a strong partner in elected government. New Mexicans will know they have a strong advocate in Santa Fe ensuring our police officers and sheriffs have the resources to keep all of us safe by deterring crime, but also bringing those responsible for heinous and criminal acts to swift and strict justice.
Those who are involved in criminal activity need to understand that, as governor, I will lead an administration that will not tolerate criminals preying on New Mexico’s citizens.
Reinstating the death penalty, expanding Katie’s Law
As governor, I will undertake a broad review of our state’s laws and report back on what I find. To start, I will fight to reinstate the death penalty for the most horrendous crimes. Those who murder law enforcement officials, witnesses and children in the course of a sexual assault should face the ultimate punishment.
I specialize in prosecuting crimes against children. As governor, I will look to change and toughen laws against sex offenders and child abusers. There are pragmatic steps we can take together like supporting and expanding measures such as Katie’s Law, which ensures we are obtaining DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence for most violent, felony arrests and including the samples in a database to help bring criminals to justice.
Border security
My focus will also include what we are doing to ensure our border is safe and under control. I am the only candidate with first-hand experience prosecuting crimes related to border security. My office prosecutes over 600 of these cases every year, including cases against criminals connected to the violent drug cartels in Mexico.
As governor, I will continue to make border security a priority through commonsense reforms. One such reform will be to repeal the law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver licenses. This policy makes it more difficult for police officers to identify those here illegally, which allows them to remain in our country.
With Mexico experiencing an unprecedented level of violence, it is absolutely critical that our state government make securing our border a priority.
The first line of defense along the border is our state and local law enforcement, and ensuring those agencies have the necessary manpower and technology is the long-term solution as is currently being provided through Operation Stonegarden. However, in times of crisis, we must, as has been done in the past and as I have supported, use the National Guard to assist law enforcement, particularly when violence from the drug cartels is spilling over.
Doing more with less
One of the central challenges facing our next governor will be how to manage the state’s budget so that we are doing more with less. No shell games with hidden resources and wasteful priorities. As district attorney, I’ve been able to crack down on crime, implement new truancy programs and make sure criminals are held to account, all while balancing my agency’s budget.
Public safety is a critical element in New Mexico’s future. Making sure citizens and businesses feel comfortable and safe as they engage in day-to-day activities is not only beneficial to our society, but it is conducive to growing the economy and educating our students, which we can all agree are central challenges we will need to confront together once a new administration is elected next fall.
Martinez is the district attorney for the 3rd Judicial District in Doña Ana County and a Republican candidate for governor.