Harrison Schmitt
The public information officer for the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, a lifelong Democrat, says she was sad to see Republican Harrison Schmitt withdraw his nomination to lead the department because he was doing a good job.
In fact, Jodi McGinnis Porter says Schmitt was “loved” by the department’s “predominantly Democratic” staff because of his “collaborate management style, principles of organizational development and his genuine interest in moving the agency forward.”
Schmitt withdrew his nomination last month after a standoff with the Senate Rules Committee chairwoman over the committee’s required background check for cabinet secretary nominees. Schmitt says he wanted the private investigator conducting the background check to be held liable for ensuring information didn’t leak out beyond being made available to the committee.
Though Gov. Susana Martinez said she sympathized with Schmitt’s concern, she still required him to submit to the background check, and he instead withdrew his nomination.
Before that, Schmitt was under fire from the left for past public statements, including one in which he seemed to say that the environmental movement in the United States is the new communism following the fall of the Soviet Union.
Full statement
Here’s McGinnis Porter’s full statement, which she posted earlier today as a comment on a commentary authored by Schmitt and published by NMPolitics.net:
“I worked closely with Senator Harrison Schmitt every day at the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and we all just loved him.
“Senator Harrison H. Schmitt is a man of integrity and a great American hero. He won over the predominately Democratic Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department with his collaborate management style, principles of organizational development and his genuine interest in moving the agency forward. He has my upmost respect and I was privileged to have the opportunity to work closely with him.
“It’s sad that we lost the most talented and experienced person that was ever appointed for the job over stupid, petty, tempest teapot politics.
“Schmitt is a real leader. What I liked about him is that he didn’t need the job, nor was he using it to pad his resume as a stepping stone to something else. He was there because he was genuinely interested in helping New Mexico. It was refreshing to work with a confident man that listened to each of the divisions concerns objectively and helped them move forward.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I (a lifelong Democrat) would be his biggest supporter, but I support and vote for a person, not their political party.
“He is missed.”