Free Republic

Last week, the Almighty expressed His displeasure over Paul Ryan's decision not to run for president by sending us an earthquake and a storm. But Ryan still refuses to reconsider. So we at THE WEEKLY STANDARD have put dreams of Ryan-Rubio 2012 on hold, and have turned our attention to other possible GOP tickets. As Michael Warren pointed out earlier today, Rick Perry now seems to be the Republican frontrunner. Who might his running mate be? Obvious possibilities are Ryan or Rubio—or Mitch Daniels (a successful Midwestern governor who's not part of the mess in D.C. but who could reassure...

SANTA FE, N.M.—Gov. Susana Martinez is renewing her battle to make New Mexico the 49th state to prohibit illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses, setting the stage for a heated fight during a special legislative session later this year. Democrats in both New Mexico and Washington —the last two states to permit illegal immigrants to get official driver's licenses— shot down bills aimed at tightening their rules earlier this year. Supporters of the current law say state licensing laws reduce the potential number of uninsured and untrained drivers. Ms. Martinez, a Republican, said in an interview she would try again,...

SANTA FE — A grueling day of high-stakes political wrangling over immigrant driver's licenses in the New Mexico Legislature ended without a clear resolution. However, House Republicans, with the help of several Democrats, gave life to one of Gov. Susana Martinez's campaign priorities by circumventing the usual committee process to revive a bill that would effectively repeal the state law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain New Mexico driver's licenses. A final vote on the measure, House Bill 78, was put off until today, with House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, vowing it will be among the first items discussed....

New Mexico's legislative Democrats are busy dialing up controversy over Republican Gov. Susana Martinez' use of robocalls to voters in her effort to get an up-or-down vote on issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Lawmakers should try dialing up Illinois, Georgia, Florida or New York instead. In recent months people have been charged with bringing over immigrants who are living in those states, which do not provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, to New Mexico. Or they could take an extra step and punch in a foreign area code to call Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Poland or Russia....

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) – The nation's first female Hispanic governor has angered many Latinos with a proposal to repeal a New Mexico state law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Newly-elected Governor Susana Martinez, a Republican who ran on a promise to get tough on illegal immigration, this week added fuel to the fire by using leftover campaign funds to pay for a radio ad urging support for her repeal efforts.

Governor Martinez's political team is getting congratulations for winning an award for producing the best statewide TV spot in 2010 in the USA. The ad from Lincoln Strategy Group was called "Convicted" and showed Martinez destroying the credibility of an attack ad from Dem Guv nominee Diane Denish. The ad was produced by consultant Jay McCleskey who recently announced plans to open his own consulting firm. The Reed awards were handed out by Campaign and Elections Magazine in D.C.

My wife and I braved the 8 degree temperatures and drove to Santa Fe for Susana's swearing in and Inaugural speech. I had a pretty good vantage point so I thought I would share these clips with my fellow Freepers. Sarah had campaigned here for her, which I think gave her a good boost!

Gov. Susana Martinez has had only a couple of months to hire a staff that will run the executive branch of state government, build a proposed budget and come up with a legislative agenda before New Mexico lawmakers convene Tuesday. It hasn't left much time to move. "We have boxes everywhere," the former district attorney from Las Cruces told the Journal. "I can find one shoe, but not the other. It's very difficult." Meanwhile, the official Santa Fe digs for the new governor and her husband, former Doña Ana County Undersheriff Chuck Franco, haven't been a quick fit either. They...

Former U.S. Sen. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, a geologist and Apollo astronaut who bucks conventional theory on human-caused global warming, was named Thursday by Gov. Susana Martinez to head the state's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Schmitt, a Silver City native who was elected to the Senate in 1976 and defeated after one term by current officeholder Jeff Bingaman, is one of the last people to walk on the moon. His appointment drew immediate fire from environmentalists. "We are disheartened to see the selection of a climate change denier," said Sandy Buffett, executive director of the Santa Fe-based Conservation Voters...

Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and served in the U.S. Senate, was nominated Thursday by Gov. Susana Martinez to run a state agency that oversees energy production in New Mexico. Schmitt was selected as cabinet secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Schmitt, 75, was one of the last men to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. He won election to the Senate in 1976, but lost his re-election bid in 1982 to Democrat Jeff Bingaman, who remains in the Senate.Martinez said the Schmitt's task is to...

New Mexico, the only state besides California to move forward on comprehensive global warming regulations, is reversing course under a new Republican governor, Susana Martinez. The move threatens to cripple the Western Climate Initiative, a California-driven effort to enact a regional trading program to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Martinez, who replaced Democrat Bill Richardson, announced on Tuesday that she is removing all members of New Mexico's Environmental Improvement Board because of what she said was its "anti-business" policies. After a heated debate, the board last year approved measures to limit the emissions of the state's largest polluters and to join...

Gov. Susana Martinez on Tuesday took aim at the controversial Environmental Improvement Board, announcing that she was removing all members over concerns about the board's approval in recent months of what she considers "anti-business" policies. The board — made up of members appointed by former Gov. Bill Richardson — was at the center of a heated debate last year over whether New Mexico should regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. The board ultimately decided to approve two proposals — one from an environmental group that aimed to limit the emissions of the state's largest polluters and another from the state Environment Department that...

Martinez Halts Environmental RulesPOSTED: 1:51 pm MST January 5, 2011 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Gov. Susana Martinez's administration is making good on campaign promises to drop new regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions by canceling their planned publication in the state register. Officials at the state Environment Department made the request to keep the rules from being published. A state records official confirmed Wednesday that he has received the request and the rules will not be published. The move is being criticized by environmental groups and lawyers who spent the past two years debating the merits of the rules before...

Alamogordo, New Mexico (CNN) – When CNN interviewed Susana Martinez, New Mexico's Republican candidate for Governor, we got a surprise. Our cameraman John Torigoe was trying to clip the microphone pack to the candidate's belt when she pulled away and said "Be careful, that's a gun back there." Martinez tells CNN she has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. She was packing heat when she addressed a gathering in Alamogordo, New Mexico on Monday. She warned them not to get too confident because "as Republicans we're outnumbered."

SANTA FE — Hours before she was sworn in as New Mexico's new governor, Susana Martinez was welcomed for New Year's Eve Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Martinez, a Catholic, arrived Friday evening behind dozens of friends and family members who piled out of a bus to fill the pews inside the century-and-a-half-old church. Wrapped up against single-digit temperatures in a long black coat and purple scarf, Martinez walked with her husband, Chuck Franco, up the steps leading to the front of the church as the bells pealed. She paused to wave at a spectators...

Gov.-elect Susana Martinez named certified public accountant and business owner Demesia Padilla as her nominee for the state Taxation and Revenue Department Secretary on Friday. "I selected Ms. Padilla because she is a professional administrator, one who understands how New Mexico tax code affects businesses, families and certainly the parents that live in New Mexico," Martinez told an Albuquerque news conference Friday. Padilla has owned and operated her own tax preparation and consulting business in New Mexico for 18 years, formerly worked as an IRS agent and ran an unsuccessful campaign for state treasurer in 2006. Martinez said Padilla has...

So, the talk has started already: Susana Martinez, Republican vice presidential prospect, 2012. And note the date: Less than a month after she was elected on Nov. 2 to become New Mexico's first female governor and just over a month before she's inaugurated and officially moves into the Roundhouse. The first national speculation registering with me was from columnist Matt Lewis on the Politics Daily website on Nov. 29 (Why the next Republican VP nominee will likely be Hispanic). Lewis cited the growing percentage of Hispanic voters and Republicans having "a new generation of qualified Hispanic leaders." For the 2012...

Chuck Franco will soon be a household name in New Mexico. As the husband of Gov.-elect Susana Martinez, he will become the state's first first gentleman when she takes office in January. He's been there every step of the way, from the long car rides between rallies to the huddles with his wife's campaign managers, to the debates and the news conferences. If Martinez is around, that stocky southern New Mexico lawman with the big black cowboy hat is likely not far behind. And, yes, he plans to be standing right there when his wife gives her historic inauguration speech....

Gov. Bill Richardson took his lumps during New Mexico's gubernatorial campaign and said Thursday he wished he'd had the opportunity to punch back. Two days after Republican Susana Martinez won a decisive victory to become the state's first elected female governor, the two-term Democratic officeholder voiced frustration at having his policies repeatedly -- and forcefully -- targeted by Martinez's campaign. "My only regret is that I wasn't able to defend myself and the accomplishments of my administration in so many areas," Richardson said after a news conference in Santa Fe. Richardson, who cited teacher salary increases, a decrease in DWI...

Susana Martinez is likely to become the very fist female Hispanic governor of New Mexico. Surely, Hispanic, women and Hispanic women’s organizations country wide are supporting her. But there is a problem with Susana Martinez, a big problem—cue evil music—she is a…who dare say it?…a…oh, the horror!…an “R” word!…she is a Republican—oh, the humanity!!!... No question that Clayton Williams managed to concoct one of the most malicious statements in human history when he likened bad weather to rape and stated that in both cases, “'If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it.” The issue, the local issue, the political issue,...