Free Republic

It's been a long-running joke (though seldom enforced) among LGBT folks, particularly gay men who work in the creative-service spaces: If you discriminate against the gay community, we will refuse to cater/plan/decorate your weddings, design and make your dresses, or make you look pretty for your next big event. Now, it seems, one gay hair stylist hasn't just made that joke, he's lived up to his word. Antonio Darden (left) styled Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico (right) on three separate occasions. Martinez is a Republican who got Sarah Palin's endorsement in 2010, and though she may believe that the...

New Mexico Republican Governor Susana Martinez apparently has “no intentions” of accepting presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s invitation to be his vice president running mate if he wins the nomination. Mr. Romney mentioned the New Mexico governor as a possible running mate during an interview on Fox News Friday, but Governor Martinez says she will not be accepting offers from any of the candidates to be their possible running mates. “I have no intentions of doing anything different other than being governor,” said the New Mexico governor in an interview with ABC News 7 on Friday. Mr. Romney also mentioned New...

The push to ban driver's licenses for illegal immigrants appears to be gaining some momentum with the legislature's 30 day session starting in just two weeks. Governor Susana Martinez is picking up some support for her crusade against the licenses, but she appears to be losing a vote too. Some Democrats are moving into the "undecided" category. Sen. Steve Fischmann, a Dona Ana County Democrat, is switching to the governor's side, saying he will vote with her because that is what the vast majority of people in hid district want.

A survey from a right-leaning polling company says Gov. Susana Martinez’s approval rating is “sky high” as she finishes her first year in office. Some 65 percent of those surveyed by Public Opinion Strategies said they approve of the job Martinez is doing, while 29 percent said they disapprove. The survey of 500 registered voters was conducted Dec. 12 and 13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38 percentage points. Read the polling memo here.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has acknowledged her paternal grandparents came to the U.S. illegally, amid national attention and protests over her ongoing efforts to bar illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses. "I know they arrived without documents, especially my father's father," the Republican said Wednesday in an interview in Spanish with KLUZ-TV, the Albuquerque Univision affiliate. Martinez has long acknowledged her Mexican heritage. But when asked previously about reports that her grandfather was an illegal immigrant, her office has said Martinez was unsure of his status since he abandoned the family when her father was young. Her comments Wednesday...

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has acknowledged her paternal grandparents came to the U.S. illegally, amid national attention and protests over her ongoing efforts to bar illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses. "I know they arrived without documents, especially my father's father," the Republican said Wednesday in an interview in Spanish with KLUZ-TV, the Albuquerque Univision affiliate.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez slammed fellow Gov. Rick Perry over immigration on the Laura Ingraham show today, albeit with only partial facts at her disposal: Ingraham: “I asked you about Rick Perry’s approach to immigration. Is his approach, including that DREAM Act, something that we should be pursuing nationally and is it something that you support?” Martinez: “No, I don’t. It is not comprehensive reform to put people who are here illegally, who violated the law, and put them in front of the line for those folks who have been waiting and doing all the right things to come...

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - A New Mexico judge on Wednesday blocked a move by the state's Republican governor to make it harder for illegal immigrants to keep driver's licenses in the state. Governor Susana Martinez's administration last month ordered the state to reverify the physical residency of foreign nationals who hold New Mexico driver's licenses in order to get or keep their licenses.But District Court Judge Sarah Singleton in Santa Fe issued a temporary restraining order blocking the program, arguing in a brief ruling that "irreparable injury" would occur from "constitutional deprivations to the applicants

Governor Susana Martinez Requalifies for Concealed Carry License in August of 2011. 100% score with .45 and .38 caliber handguns.

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...