Posted on 08/13/2003 7:57:13 PM PDT by Impy
HELENA, Mont. Gov. Judy Martz, saying she has done what she promised and that she wants to spend more time with her family, announced Wednesday she will not seek a second term.
At a news conference in her Capitol office, the Republican ticked off a list of achievements dealing with economic development, health care and tax changes and then concluded, “I have accomplished what I set out to do. I have enacted my vision.”
The surprise announcement is expected to entice Lt. Gov. Karl Ohs into the GOP primary race already crowded with three candidates.
Ohs, who attended the news conference and was unaware of Martz’s decision until then, said he will disclose his plans soon. He said last week he would run if Martz does not.
Martz, 60, has been mulling a possible candidacy for months. She said she did not make her decision until Monday night when returning to Helena from her home in Butte, where her husband, Harry, continues to live.
She said she tired of returning to the empty governor’s residence.
“When I am on the job, it is the greatest job in the world,” she said to a room crammed with Cabinet members, aides and reporters. “But when you go home at night and it’s a quiet house, and no one’s there, there’s a tugging at your heart that you will never understand.”
Martz said problems she has faced during the first half of her term were not a factor in her decision against running.
She said recent polls showing only about 20 percent of Montanans approve of the job she has done as Montana’s first woman governor also were not a factor.
Martz was criticized following the 2001 drunken-driving crash involving her chief policy adviser, Shane Hedges. He was at the wheel of a sport utility vehicle that went off a mountain road and killed Montana’s House majority leader, who was a passenger. Martz acknowledged washing the clothes Hedges was wearing at the time of the accident, but called it a motherly reaction.
She also was criticized for comments suggesting she did not mind being referred to as a “lap dog” of industry.
She said her family promised to support her in whatever decision she made, but she concluded it was time to devote more attention to her husband and children. Yet, the decision wasn’t easy, Martz said.
“My head wants to run, my body wants to run, but my heart says, ‘Go be with your family after being away this long,’ “ she said. “It’s about reconnecting with my family.”
Martz said she’s not sure what she will do, but vowed to remain active in public policy and government.
“I will be working on behalf of the people of Montana for a long, long time,” she said. “I am young, I am willing and I am willing to do new things.”
She said that low approval ratings in public opinion polls and the difficulties of the office had nothing to do with her decision.
“I knew the job wouldn’t be easy,” she said. “This is not a job one seeks to prove political worth.”
Martz also said the Lord played a role in her decision not to seek re-election.
Martz’s term ends in January of 2005. She said she will likely spend time in Butte with her husband, from whom she’s been away from for eight years, and her pregnant daughter Stacey, 30, and her husband, Abe, as well as her son, Justin, 34, who also lives in Butte. Martz’s first grandchild is due in December.
“I just plainly feel in my heart that (going home) is right,” she said.
Lee State Bureau reporters Jennifer McKee and Allison Farrell contributed to this report.
Secretary of State Bob Brown is very popular and will beat the rat Brian Schweitzer.
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