{"id":28991,"date":"2011-05-04T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T14:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=28991"},"modified":"2011-05-05T05:35:56","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T11:35:56","slug":"lawmakers-jeff-lovejoy-heap-praise-on-martinez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/05\/lawmakers-jeff-lovejoy-heap-praise-on-martinez\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers Jeff, Lovejoy heap praise on Martinez"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Sen. Lynda Lovejoy, left, and Rep. Sandra Jeff, D-Crownpoint<\/p><\/div>\n

Though many Democratic lawmakers aren\u2019t impressed<\/a> with the job Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a> has done thus far, two Democratic state lawmakers who represent an area that\u2019s often forgotten have a different take.<\/p>\n

The praise for the Republican governor comes from Sen. Lynda Lovejoy<\/a> and Rep. Sandra Jeff<\/a>, Democratic lawmakers from Crownpoint who are both Navajo. It follows the appointment by Martinez of a Navajo to be the state\u2019s Indian affairs secretary, and a legislative session in which both found some common ground with the governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do admire her willingness and her openness and her accessibility,\u201d Lovejoy said in a recent interview. \u201cI\u2019m not going to say Navajos are going to change their party affiliation and vote for her. It\u2019s too soon. But it\u2019s a good start for her, in my point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff heaped even more praise on Martinez, saying she\u2019s done such a good job of reaching out that some Navajo Democrats are considering becoming Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a common ground, and they see it in her,\u201d Jeff said of Martinez.<\/p>\n

Some other Democratic lawmakers who represent the area in and around the Navajo Nation could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

But if other Navajos share the high opinion of Martinez expressed by Jeff and Lovejoy, as Jeff claims they do, that could be politically significant. Jeff compared Martinez\u2019s potential for winning Democratic votes on the Navajo Nation as governor to her past re-election victories as Do\u00f1a Ana County\u2019s district attorney \u2013 victories in a predominantly Democratic county that required bipartisan support.<\/p>\n

Picking a Navajo to head Indian Affairs<\/h3>\n

Jeff and Lovejoy said Martinez\u2019s pick of Arthur P. Allison, a Republican, to head the Indian Affairs Department was a good one. Allison is the first Navajo to head the department, according to the Navajo Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jeff said she lobbied Martinez to select a Navajo \u2013 and the governor listened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that he will do the job because he is very pro-business,\u201d Jeff said of Allison.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my knowledge he\u2019s a very mature individual,\u201d Lovejoy said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of experience in planning and development. He has a good education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allison owns 5 Star Security Inc., a Farmington-area security business. He\u2019s chairman of the board of Din\u00e9 Development Corp., through which the Navajo Nation helps businesses. He was economic development director for the Navajo Nation from 1995 to 1998.<\/p>\n

Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said the governor interviewed candidates from the state\u2019s pueblos and the Navajo reservation, and ultimately believed that Allison is \u201ca competent, forward-thinking leader whose business acumen will help with economic development and job creation in the Native American community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018She was very approachable\u2019<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not just the selection of Allison that has the lawmakers pleased with Martinez. Both liked some \u2013 but not all \u2013 of the policy initiatives Martinez pushed during the legislative session.<\/p>\n

Lovejoy said she agreed with Martinez\u2019s pushes to expand a DNA collection law<\/a> and reform education<\/a>. She didn\u2019t agree with the governor\u2019s unsuccessful push to end the state\u2019s practice of allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver\u2019s licenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

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

Lovejoy\u2019s own legislation had mixed success with Martinez. The governor vetoed her bill that would have changed the way escrow payments are determined<\/a> for cigarette manufacturers who don\u2019t participate in the tobacco settlement, but signed her Native American suicide prevention bill<\/a> at a public ceremony in Shiprock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Darnell said the governor is committed to serving the interests of Native Americans and \u201cwas honored to sign the Native American Suicide Prevention Act at Shiprock High School, where she was able to personally communicate to hundreds of Native American young people that their lives were valuable and their futures limitless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuicide stems so often from despair, hopelessness, or substance abuse, all of which can be combated by a community that is constantly working together to support and nurture the young people around them in a positive way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lovejoy liked what she saw from the governor at the Shiprock news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I observed her at Shiprock, she was very approachable,\u201d Lovejoy said, adding that she admires much about the governor\u2019s agenda and her \u201cphilosophy of what she needs to do as a governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff gained a lot of attention during the session for supporting Martinez\u2019s push<\/a> to outlaw driver\u2019s licenses for undocumented immigrants. In fact, it earned her the ire of many of her Democratic colleagues.<\/p>\n

Jeff said she\u2019s fed up with the leadership in her own party, but said she\u2019s not among those who are thinking about becoming Republicans. Still, she said, she plans to be a Martinez ally, saying she\u2019s been impressed with Martinez\u2019s desire to work with Democrats as well as Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can work together,\u201d Jeff said. \u201cWe\u2019re not the ones who spend, spend, spend, spend, spend. We\u2019re trying to fix the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Deep respect\u2019<\/h3>\n

Darnell said Martinez \u201chas deep respect\u201d for Jeff and Lovejoy and \u201cfervently believes that while public officials may hold differing viewpoints from one another on important matters, this should not impede their ability to work together, get along, and effectively represent New Mexicans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, to this point, the governor has aimed to be up front with lawmakers about where she stands on the critical issues facing New Mexico and work with them wherever she can to achieve mutual goals,\u201d Darnell said.<\/p>\n

This article has been updated for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though many Democratic lawmakers aren\u2019t impressed with the job Gov. Susana Martinez has done thus far, two Democratic state lawmakers who represent an area that\u2019s often forgotten have a different take.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-28991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28991","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=28991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}