{"id":12300,"date":"2010-02-01T00:00:07","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T07:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=12300"},"modified":"2010-02-02T07:25:39","modified_gmt":"2010-02-02T14:25:39","slug":"many-gop-legislators-backing-martinez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/02\/many-gop-legislators-backing-martinez\/","title":{"rendered":"Many GOP legislators backing Martinez"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Susana<\/a>

Susana Martinez<\/p><\/div>\n

Analyst says endorsements help Las Cruces-based gubernatorial candidate gain credibility<\/h4>\n

Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez<\/a> has been racking up endorsements from state legislators.<\/p>\n

To date, she has the public backing of 25 percent of current Republican state senators and representatives \u2013 10 of 40. With the exception of Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> obviously backing herself in the gubernatorial race, no other candidate in the Republican primary has the endorsements of any current state legislator.<\/p>\n

What does it say that so many of the Republican lawmakers \u2013 elected officials who will be working closely with the next governor \u2013 are all getting behind the same gubernatorial candidate? Not necessarily anything, according to one of Martinez\u2019s opponents, Doug Turner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realize I\u2019m a different sort of candidate with a different sort of campaign, but I really believe that it\u2019s about the people of this state, not the political powers that be,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I have the same number of legislators endorsing me that Gary Johnson<\/a> had in 1994 \u2013 zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson went on to win the governor\u2019s race that year and re-election four years later.<\/p>\n

But political analyst and pollster Brian Sanderoff said the endorsements probably help Martinez, the district attorney in the one county in the state that\u2019s outside the Albuquerque media market \u2013 Do\u00f1a Ana County.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think those endorsements are more valuable to a lesser-known candidate like Susana Martinez because it gives her that credibility, to demonstrate that she\u2019s a player,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s supporters<\/h3>\n

The 10 who have endorsed Martinez are:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rep. Zachary Cook<\/a> of Ruidoso.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sen. Dianna Duran<\/a> of Tularosa.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rep. Nora Espinoza<\/a> of Roswell.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rep. Keith Gardner<\/a> of Roswell, who is the minority whip.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rep. William Gray<\/a> of Artesia.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sen. Steven Neville<\/a> of Aztec.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Rep. Dennis Roch<\/a> of Tucumcari.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sen. Sander Rue<\/a> of Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sen. John Ryan<\/a> of Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sen. William Sharer<\/a> of Farmington.<\/p>\n

Sanderoff noted that the group is geographically diverse, but many of them are ideologically driven, so it makes sense that they\u2019d get behind Martinez\u2019s tough, anti-corruption campaign.<\/p>\n

Gardner said there\u2019s a more practical reason he\u2019s backing Martinez. Making clear that he is only speaking for himself \u2013 and not as the House minority whip \u2013 Gardner said he believes Martinez is the candidate who can win in November.<\/p>\n

Asked if endorsements make a difference, Gardner said, \u201cI don\u2019t know how much they help but I know they don\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t do that lightly. They don\u2019t do it without thoughtful consideration, because frankly once you do that you\u2019re married to that campaign,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a corrupt state, and the only way we fix it is if we make a change in the executive branch, and that\u2019s why I was willing to jump in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones hasn\u2019t asked<\/h3>\n

Gardner also noted that Arnold-Jones, who he called a \u201chardworking member of the House of Representatives,\u201d hasn\u2019t been asking for endorsements from her colleagues.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones said that\u2019s because she thinks it\u2019s \u201centirely\u00a0inappropriate to ask for a public endorsement leading up to and during a legislative session.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a member of the Republican House Caucus, I have a commitment to the members of the caucus, and to my constituents,\u00a0to make sure my actions and decisions\u00a0are thoughtful, in the best interest of the caucus, my district\u00a0and the state,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones said she\u2019s \u201cgratified\u201d that former Rep. Murray Ryan has endorsed her candidacy<\/a> and said \u201cthere are others,\u201d but right now, \u201cI must focus on my duties as the representative, House District 24.\u00a0My constituents, the\u00a0caucus and the state\u00a0deserve nothing less.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Tom Taylor<\/a>, R-Farmington, said GOP legislators have \u201cgenerally\u201d followed people directly involved in the state and county Republican Party organizations in not endorsing candidates in primaries in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time it\u2019s sort of different, and there is no rule against that,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re free to decide whether they want to give that support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor said it\u2019s important, from his perspective, \u201cthat you allow the primary process to go on and the influence on that being the voters.\u201d That\u2019s why he hasn\u2019t endorsed any candidate in a Republican primary.<\/p>\n

Getting on the ballot<\/h3>\n

The main focus of candidates right now is securing the necessary support at the upcoming preprimary convention to appear on the ballot in June. That requires the votes of 20 percent of delegates. Those who fail in that task must gather a large number of signatures if they still want to appear on the ballot, but they also lose credibility among many party activists because they failed the organizational test of winning enough delegates\u2019 support.<\/p>\n

Sanderoff said securing that 20 percent at the preprimary convention is \u201ca real organizational task that takes a lot of effort, and it can be done successfully with or without legislators.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he believes Martinez\u2019s legislative endorsements will help her be taken more seriously by those delegates. It sounds as though that\u2019s exactly what Martinez is planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith so much at stake in this election, Republican legislators are coalescing behind the strongest candidate,\u201d Martinez Campaign Manager Adam Deguire said. \u201cWhile Susana is honored by the endorsements, she understands this will be a tough campaign and looks forward to working with these leaders to build a grassroots effort that will deliver real change in New Mexico this November.\u201d<\/p>\n

For someone like Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh<\/a>, Sanderoff said, legislative endorsements may not be as important because he\u2019s a former state party chairman and is already known by preprimary delegates.<\/p>\n

Weh played up the endorsements he\u2019s received<\/a> \u2013 which include two former lawmakers \u2013 while saying that New Mexicans \u201care tired of career politicians and political insiders who have fallen out of touch with everyday people, and that\u2019s why this campaign has picked up so much steam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of the enormous support I\u2019ve received across this state, especially from the veterans who have served our country in the armed forces and our first responders,\u201d Weh said in a prepared statement. \u201cIn addition, we\u2019ve now received contributions from nearly 1,000 people who are fully committed to helping me take on and clean up Santa Fe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doug Antoon, coordinator for the campaign of Pete Domenici Jr.<\/a>, said Domenici and Republican state legislators \u201chave very positive and productive relationships,\u201d but securing legislative endorsements \u201cis not the main focus of our campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSusana has worked very hard to court GOP legislators, who are all fine men and women,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026Pete\u2019s main goal is to reach out directly to and communicate with the voters who will elect the Republican nominee at the June 1, primary, and then to all voters to help win the general election on Nov. 2.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez has the public backing of 25 percent of current GOP state senators and representatives \u2013 10 of 40. What does it say that so many of them are getting behind the same candidate? Depends on who you ask.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,107],"class_list":["post-12300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}