In the News

The Albuquerque Journal By: Patrick Lohmann Sunday, February 2, 2014 http://www.abqjournal.com/346706/news/nm-hispanic-students-top-nation-on-ap-tests.html Gov. Susana Martinez could hardly contain her excitement Saturday when announcing results of a national report on Advanced Placement course outcomes in the state, saying that, this time, New Mexico is on the top of a list when it comes to education. Hispanic students in New Mexico schools rank No. 1 in the nation for their participation and success on Advanced Placement tests, which are aimed at preparing students for college and allow them to skip certain introductory college courses, according to a ranking compiled by education nonprofit College … Read More

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Is New Mexico’s Susana Martinez a Republican VP candidate? By Rebecca Berg Jan. 1, 2014 http://washingtonexaminer.com/best-of-2013-is-new-mexicos-susana-martinez-a-republican-vp-candidate/article/2541353 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico does not often prompt thoughts of New Jersey. The people are less abrasive; the desert landscape, more so. A population four times smaller is scattered across an area 15 times as vast. But New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has lately been bracketed with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another Republican who has had success in a Democratic state and won national attention for it. The two recently appeared side-by-side in New Jersey as Christie campaigned for his … Read More

The Albuquerque Journal By: The Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board December 28, 2013 http://www.abqjournal.com/327457/opinion/taxpayers-win-with-higher-ed-recruiting-fix.html Here’s a reality check for the education status quo: in college, everybody doesn’t get a ribbon. That’s as it should be – though some disagree, at some point in life you should actually have to work for what you get. And it’s a key reason Gov. Susana Martinez’s proposed legislation to award $7.5 million in competitive grants to get colleges to recruit great professors, scientists and researchers – most likely in key areas such as science, engineering, health and mathematics – is a better game plan than … Read More

The Albuquerque Journal By: The Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board December 26, 2013 http://www.abqjournal.com/326394/opinion/14-kicks-off-with-more-solvent-nm-pensions.html While there are those public retirees who undoubtedly will feel the New Mexico Supreme Court delivered them a lump of coal this holiday season, all should realize that it’s better to receive a pension than to be stuck with one that’s two sizes too small. Or none at all. That’s the bottom line of the justices’ unanimous determination last week that the Legislature can in fact trim certain public retirement benefits. The decision sprang from a challenge by four retired educators that the benefits represent promised property … Read More

The New Mexican Monday, December 16, 2013 11:30 pm http://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-reading-retention-and-compromise/article_f35c9779-32eb-5ff9-9de2-2170b6a46661.html Gov. Susana Martinez is inching toward compromise… on her signature initiative to improve the reading ability of New Mexico schoolchildren. The goal is hardly controversial: Ensure children learn to read by third grade, so that they can succeed in school. It’s how to get there that has caused disagreement. Martinez and her Public Education Department Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera want children held back in third grade if they aren’t reading up to grade level. … Now, we hear of possible compromise, through a bill that would provide additional intervention in the early … Read More

PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Gov. Susana Martinez: Caring for Her Sister By CHAMP CLARK People Magazine Aug. 5, 2013 A Rising GOP Star Runs New Mexico While Living with a Sister, Lettie, Who Is Developmentally Disabled http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20721515,00.html Lettie Martinez takes a deep breath and blows out the candles on her chocolate cake. Serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by her large extended family, she claps her hands and beams. “How old are you, Lettie?” a cousin calls out. Lettie ponders a moment, then replies, “Five! Six!” Lettie’s sister Susana smiles and says, “Lettie’s been talking about this birthday for months. She’s 56, but she’s … Read More

By Karl Rove April 18, 2013 http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/susana-martinez/ At 18 and armed with a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, Susana Martinez guarded parking lots at church bingo nights for her parents’ security business. She later attended law school, becoming a prosecutor and handling child-abuse and homicide cases. Fired by her boss after being called to testify against him, she challenged him at the polls, eventually winning four terms as Doña Ana County district attorney. Then in 2010, she was elected America’s first Latina governor and New Mexico’s first female governor. Though her state usually votes Democratic, that hasn’t stopped this Republican … Read More

Michael Warren April 23, 2012 http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/articles/no-susana_637017.html Carlsbad, N.M. As we walk through the Department of Energy’s field office in remote Carlsbad, Susana Martinez is explaining the science of nuclear waste management. At the federally managed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, about 25 miles east of here and more than 2,000 feet below the dusty, barren surface, the government deposits much of its radioactive waste. The repository, Martinez tells me, was built underneath a half-mile-thick salt formation. Carved out of the salt are small rooms ideal for holding the waste safely as it decays. She explains that the salt is nonporous, so … Read More

The Economist Susana Martinez shows how Republicans might one day woo Latinos Dec. 17, 2011 http://www.economist.com/node/21541856 TORIBIO ORTEGA, who supposedly fired the first shot in the Mexican Revolution a century ago, would have been surprised if told that a descendant of his would one day run an American state. So would Adolfo Martinez, another Mexican revolutionary, who crossed the sparsely patrolled border into America in the 1920s (whether legally or not is unclear from census records). But today Susana Martinez of New Mexico, great-granddaughter of the former and granddaughter of the latter, does just that: she is America’s first Latina … Read More