{"id":4786,"date":"2009-08-06T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-06T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/08\/fixing-public-education-is-a-huge-priority-for-turner\/"},"modified":"2009-12-03T14:46:37","modified_gmt":"2009-12-03T21:46:37","slug":"fixing-public-education-is-a-huge-priority-for-turner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/08\/fixing-public-education-is-a-huge-priority-for-turner\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixing public education is ‘a huge priority’ for Turner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Turner,

Turner, shown here during his visit to Las Cruces on Tuesday. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

The likely GOP gubernatorial candidate also says honest government \u2018is a function of leadership\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Doug Turner<\/a> says there\u2019s been a lot of talk in the Republican gubernatorial primary race about ending corruption, with candidates expressing anger and using buzz phrases like \u201cclean up Santa Fe.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the 40-year-old public relations professional, who is likely to officially join the 2010 gubernatorial race in the coming weeks or months, said a focus on ending corruption \u201conly goes so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have an honest government is a function of leadership,\u201d Turner said. \u201c\u2026 I believe you have to be for something, instead of against things.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Turner for?<\/p>\n

\u201cFiguring out how to fix public education in this state is a huge priority for me,\u201d he said during an interview Tuesday in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

<\/span>During a week in which the public learned that only 54 percent<\/a> of high school seniors graduated in New Mexico in 2008, Turner said public schools \u201cshould not be paid\u201d for the number of students enrolled at the beginning of the year regardless of whether those students finish the year.<\/p>\n

Turner, a member of the New Mexico Charter Schools Association\u2019s board, is a fan of charter schools and vouchers. He said competition \u201ccan come in many forms,\u201d including taking failing schools away from failing school districts.<\/p>\n

He said school board elections should be held in conjunction with municipal or state elections to increase voter turnout.<\/p>\n

And he said the Richardson administration has increased spending on education without producing results, so he finds it \u201chard to believe that the solution to all of it is more money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education, Turner said, is an issue that \u201cshould not even be political.\u201d He said people must \u201cwork together\u201d to fix the system or \u201cfail together,\u201d but he recognized that the solutions won\u2019t come easily.<\/p>\n

The status of the race<\/span><\/p>\n

Turner, CEO of the Albuquerque-based public relations firm DW Turner<\/a>, hasn\u2019t officially declared his candidacy, but he has raised enough money — more than $2,500 — to be required to form an exploratory committee, which he said he will soon be doing.<\/p>\n

Turner speaks as though he\u2019s fully in the race, using phrases during this interview such as \u201cwhen I formally announce.\u201d He\u2019s traveling the state campaigning — he met with local GOP officials, business owners and employees of New Mexico State University during his stop in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

And during Tuesday\u2019s interview Turner was accompanied by Carri Phillis, previously a staffer for former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>. Phillis is listed on her business card as Turner\u2019s \u201ccampaign director.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two Republicans are already formally running for governor — Do\u00f1a Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez<\/a> and State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> of Albuquerque. Former state GOP Chairman Allen Weh<\/a> has formed an exploratory committee and, like Turner, has hired staff and has been traveling the state.<\/p>\n

Wilson still says she\u2019s seriously considering entering the race. A number of analysts have said it\u2019s difficult to gauge the chances of other GOP candidates until Wilson, who served in the House for 10 years and built a statewide network last year during her unsuccessful run for Senate, makes a decision.<\/p>\n

On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a> is the only declared 2010 gubernatorial candidate, though Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez<\/a> says he\u2019s formed an exploratory committee.<\/p>\n

For \u2018extreme transparency,\u2019 not contribution limits<\/span><\/p>\n

Turner may be talking about government corruption in a different way than some other candidates, but he agreed with them that it is a serious problem. Turner said there\u2019s \u201csomething fundamentally wrong\u201d in a state in which former Senate President Manny Aragon, who was convicted for his role in helping steal $4.2 million from taxpayers, was sent off to prison with a farewell party<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Turner said he supports \u201cextreme transparency\u201d such as increased campaign finance reporting requirements and webcasting of legislative proceedings. But he doesn\u2019t believe recently approved campaign contribution limits will help combat corruption. He said similar limits in Washington have only pushed political money into the nonprofit sector, and he believes the same will happen here.<\/p>\n

Getting back to his statement about leadership being critical to honest government, Turner said former Republican Gov. Gary Johnson\u2019s<\/a> administration was not plagued by pay-to-play scandals. Turner was state director for Johnson\u2019s first campaign in 1994 and manager of his re-election campaign in 1998, and he served on the state Judicial Standards Commission<\/a> during Johnson\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

As a businessman, Turner said he agrees with Johnson\u2019s vision of making government more effective, efficient and focused on serving people. He said you can\u2019t run a successful business by hiring people you don\u2019t need and without providing services people need.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think somewhere along the line over the last seven years we\u2019ve lost track,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n

In a brief interview, Johnson said he\u2019s glad Turner is running.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019d do a great job,\u201d Johnson said. \u201c\u2026 He\u2019s a very good people person, he communicates well, he\u2019s got all the ingredients, so I think he\u2019s got a good shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

A small world<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked if he expects to draw support from the libertarian wing of the GOP because of his past work with Johnson, Turner said he resists labels and said doesn\u2019t support of all of Johnson\u2019s policy stances, including the former governor\u2019s belief that drugs should be decriminalized.<\/p>\n

While people come from varying backgrounds, Turner said he\u2019s more interested in talking about what they have in common — the desires for economic and physical security, a good education for their children and to be left alone by their government. Turner said he\u2019s seen such desires in varying cultures around the world.<\/p>\n

Turner grew up in New Mexico and lives in Albuquerque with his wife and their 2.5-year-old child (they have a second child due next month), but he has lived around the world. His business has taken him to New York, Japan, Singapore and Denver. He lived in Washington, D.C. for a time when he was working for former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a>. And when he was working as deputy political director for Steve Forbes\u2019<\/a> unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign, he was out of the state for months.<\/p>\n

Turner\u2019s firm still has clients in the New York area, and his wife is a tenured professor there — in addition to being a professor at the University of New Mexico — so Turner and his family have spent a significant amount of time out east.<\/p>\n

Turner said such travel has helped him realize that the world is small. He said others need to realize that \u201cthe entire planet is a place for the state to do business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The likely GOP gubernatorial candidate also says honest government \u2018is a function of leadership\u2019 Doug Turner says there\u2019s been a lot of talk in the Republican gubernatorial primary race about ending corruption, with candidates expressing anger and using buzz phrases like \u201cclean up Santa Fe.\u201d But the 40-year-old public relations professional, who is likely to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4786","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=4786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}