Jose Z. Garcia
I’ve quoted New Mexico State University government professor and political analyst Jose Z. Garcia in the past about the governor’s race between Democrat Diane Denish and Republican Susana Martinez.
Garcia endorsed Martinez on Friday when the campaign announced that he had agreed to be on the steering committee for her “Democrats for Martinez” coalition. Because of that, I’ll no longer be quoting him as a political analyst when it comes to the governor’s race.
Garcia has provided solid analysis of the race. When Martinez entered the race last year, he predicted she would be “a game changer” – and he was right. When she won the primary, Garcia said Martinez, unlike most GOP gubernatorial candidates in the past, wouldn’t have to move to the middle because she has other qualities that will attract Hispanics. And he predicted that Martinez’s candidacy would force Denish to move to the right. That prediction also came true.
But now that Garcia has crossed the line between analyzing the race and advocating for one of the candidates, I felt it was necessary to let you know that I will no longer quote him as an analyst in articles about the governor’s race. He occasionally submits commentaries to this site, and if he does that before the election on a topic related to the governor’s race, I’ll probably run it but will identify him as a supporter of Martinez.
Garcia has been active in Democratic Party politics in Doña Ana County for many years and is married to Magistrate Judge Olivia Nevarez Garcia, a Democrat. He publishes his own blog, La Politica: New Mexico!