{"id":23958,"date":"2010-12-02T07:37:10","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T14:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=23958"},"modified":"2010-12-03T07:44:06","modified_gmt":"2010-12-03T14:44:06","slug":"nina-martinez-isn%e2%80%99t-backing-down-in-gop-chair-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/12\/nina-martinez-isn%e2%80%99t-backing-down-in-gop-chair-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Nina Martinez not backing down in GOP chair race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

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

Nina Martinez says she won\u2019t drop out of the race to become chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico<\/a> even though a number of GOP elected officials are backing her opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no intention of dropping out of the race for RPNM state chairman. This is a lifelong goal for me,\u201d Martinez, the party\u2019s current first vice chair, wrote in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Gov.-elect Susana Martinez (no relation), Congressman-elect Steve Pearce and others signed a letter<\/a> to the party\u2019s delegates urging them to make former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman the chairman when they meet Saturday<\/a>. But Nina Martinez said Newman \u201chas not been active in the party and isn\u2019t even a member of the state central committee. He can\u2019t even vote for himself or any other officers on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my calls to state central committee members, I’ve learned that they want a choice this Saturday,\u201d she said. \u201cGov.-elect Martinez and Rep. Pearce may support any candidate they wish, but the state party rules are clear: The state central committee has responsibility to vote and elect their next state chairman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newman: It\u2019s time for \u2018fresh eyes and fresh ears\u2019<\/h3>\n

Newman is a former congressional candidate and vice president of the National Association of Realtors, and the elected officials cited his fundraising ability in their letter to delegates. In an interview, Newman said he decided to seek the chairmanship after being asked to consider it and talking with others including outgoing Chairman Harvey Yates Jr., Susana Martinez, and Pearce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great time, a great opportunity for Republicans, and I\u2019d like to be a part of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As to Nina Martinez\u2019s pointing out that he\u2019s not a member of the state central committee, Newman said he would bring a \u201cfresh set of eyes and ears\u201d to the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it is time for fresh eyes and fresh ears, and sometimes it\u2019s not,\u201d he said. \u201cThe committee will make that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Newman said he doesn\u2019t expect Nina Martinez to drop out of the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a great deal of respect for Nina. I would not ask her to withdraw,\u201d he said. \u201cI do think that choice is very important to the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez: \u2018I\u2019m the most qualified candidate\u2019<\/h3>\n

Nina Martinez has worked her way up in the party. She said she registered as a Republican in San Miguel County when she was 18 and has since served as precinct chair, county secretary, and in other positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m ready to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming state chair and securing a Republican majority in the N.M. state Legislature,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe I\u2019m the most qualified candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI share the passion of Gov.-elect Martinez in having and working hard toward a lifelong goal,\u201d Nina Martinez said. \u201cI look forward to working with her, Rep. Pearce and the Republican leadership to build on our successes of 2010.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nina Martinez says she won\u2019t drop out of the race to become chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico even though a number of GOP elected officials are backing her opponent.<\/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":[194],"class_list":["post-23958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-republican-party"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23958","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=23958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}