Early life, education, and early career

Martinez was born on July 14, 1959, in El Paso, Texas. She was brought up in a middle-class family of Mexican descent. Her father, Jacobo Martinez, was a boxer for the U.S. Marines during the Korean War, and won three straight Golden Gloves titles in the 1950s. He was a deputy sheriff for El Paso County. Her mother, Paula Aguirre, worked in various offices. Susana Martinez has two siblings, a sister and a brother. Martinez is the legal guardian and caretaker of her older sister, Lettie, who has cerebral palsy and is developmentally disabled.

Martinez attended Riverside High School in El Paso where she was student body president. An honors student, she graduated in 1977. She earned her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas at El Paso. While at UTEP, she worked for her father's security guard company. Martinez patrolled a parking lot of a Catholic bingo hall and has said she carried a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum while on the job. In 1981, Martinez pursued her J.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and graduated in 1986.

District Attorney's office

Assistant and deputy

Martinez was Assistant District Attorney for the 3rd Judicial District, serving Doña Ana County, New Mexico, from 1986 to 1992. As Assistant District Attorney, she developed a specialty in the office of working with sexually abused children and developing a multidisciplinary team (that included help for victims) and she participated in seminars that would relate specifically to domestic violence and sexual offenses, rapes and women and children. The district attorney for whom she worked, Doug Driggers, promoted her to Deputy District Attorney.

Martinez was dismissed, but later returned and was again appointed as Deputy District Attorney. She helped campaign for Driggers as he was running for a third term as District Attorney. Driggers lost the Democratic primary election to Gregory Valdez, a defense attorney. Martinez was fired by Valdez shortly after his victory in the general election. Valdez claims that he fired Martinez because of a specific case she handled, she had missed key timelines. Martinez filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Valdez and was awarded an out-of-court settlement of $100,000 to $120,000. She later twice defeated Valdez in the general election for District Attorney with approximate 18-point and 20-point wins respectively.

Martinez was first elected district attorney in the 3rd Judicial District in 1996 with nearly 60% of the vote. She was re-elected three more times.

As a prosecutor, Martinez focused on cases involving public corruption and child abuse. She worked to pass legislation that would expand Katie's Law. This would "require a DNA sample for all felony arrests". During her first term as governor, she signed the expansion bill into law in April 2011.

2010 gubernatorial election

Main article: New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2010

With 51% of the vote in a five-way contest, Martinez won the Republican nomination for governor of New Mexico in the primary election on June 1, 2010. Martinez defeated PR firm owner Doug Turner, State Representative Janice Arnold-Jones, Pete Domenici, Jr. (son of the former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici), and former Republican Party state chairman Allen Weh. During the primary campaign, Martinez was endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

With 53% of the vote, Martinez defeated Diane Denish, then lieutenant governor of New Mexico in the general election on November 2, 2010. One element of her platform was to secure the United States - Mexico border from illegal immigrants. Martinez defeated Denish by over 40,605 votes, she received 321,219 votes to Denish's 280,614 votes. The Martinez v. Denish race, and the simultaneous Mary Fallin v. Jari Askins race in Oklahoma, were the third and fourth cases of woman vs. woman gubernatorial races in U.S. history (since the elections of Kay Orr in Nebraska in 1986 and Linda Lingle in Hawaii in 2002). Each of the victors was the Republican woman candidate.

Governor of New Mexico (2011-present)

When Martinez took office she set out a budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 and 2013, as well as establishing a moratorium on all state vehicle purchases until 2012. She barred all state agencies from hiring lobbyists.

On January 31, 2011, Martinez signed an executive order rescinding sanctuary status for illegal immigrants who commit crimes in New Mexico.

Martinez counts among her legislative victories: "the cap on film credits; a bill that would exempt locomotive fuel from state gross-receipts tax; and an expansion of Katie's Law, which will require law-enforcement officials to obtain DNA samples from all suspects booked on felony charges". She supported and signed a bill that will "assign schools the grades of A to F based on student achievement and other factors, such as high-school graduation rates. Martinez described her push for education reforms as 'a hard-fought battle against those who continued to defend the status quo'". In April 2011, Martinez signed the expansion bill on Katie's Law.

In 2011, the Supreme Court of New Mexico ruled twice against actions by Martinez. "In January, the court unanimously decided that Martinez acted improperly when she requested the state's records administrator delay publishing greenhouse-gas emissions rules that the state Environmental Improvement Board approved shortly before she took office." In addition, a unanimous court ruled on April 13, 2011, that "Gov. Susana Martinez lacked authority to arbitrarily remove two members of the state Public Employee Labor Relations Board." During 2011, Martinez attended her first "Tribal-State Summit," as required by New Mexico in which the governor meets with the 22 recognized tribes annually. The topics of discussion for 2011 were tribal economic development and infrastructure; health care; natural resources,; water, and education.

Martinez has pushed for an increase in private investment to complete the US$212 million state-funded Spaceport America project. In order to drive the new effort, Gov. Martinez appointed an entirely new board of directors to oversee the Spaceport Authority. In 2012, Martinez sold the state's luxury jet, which she called "the ultimate symbol of waste and excess"; it sold for $2.51 million.

As a result of the Las Conchas Fire, the second largest wildfire in state history, Martinez issued a state of emergency with regard to the use of fireworks. After the Las Conchas Fire burned to within miles of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Martinez made the removal of radioactive waste a top priority. As the fire contributed significantly to the flooding that followed, Martinez asked the Obama administration for federal relief funding.

The chief medical officer for the New Mexico Department of Health, and the deputy secretary, both resigned in 2012. The individuals allege that Martinez ordered their termination for promoting birth control to the public. Martinez, and the New Mexico Department of Health, denied any connection between the resignations, and an interview concerning condom use.

Many Republicans speculated as to whether Martinez would be Vice President on the Republican presidential ticket in 2012, but she stated numerous times that she would not run.

On May 15, 2012, as a result of the Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire, Martinez declared the entire state of New Mexico to be in a drought. Martinez issued the formal drought declaration to help farmers, ranchers, and others secure federal drought funding. Martinez stated that in addition to "the work we’re doing at the state level to assist communities facing serious drought conditions, I’m hopeful this declaration will assist them in securing any available federal funding as well." Martinez stated that "As a result of this fire, small businesses are unquestionably feeling the impact." As a result, she encouraged them to apply for SBA loans. On June 8, Martinez declared Catron County, New Mexico, to be in a state of emergency. The declaration made funds available for both state and local response to the fire, and for community needs. At the 2012 Tribal-State Summit, Martinez discussed water rights, natural resources, education, and tribal economic development and infrastructure. In the presence of Navajo President Ben Shelly, as well as several members of the Navajo Nation Council, Martinez announced that Central Consolidated School District will remain intact.

On Friday March 29, Governor Martinez vetoed a raise in the state minimum wage, citing that the raise was higher than neighboring states. The minimum wage in Albuquerque is already the amount proposed for the remainder of the state.

As of May 2014, job losses in New Mexico had accelerated during the previous 12 months, making it just one of two states to lose jobs. For the 12 months ending in April 2014, the state reported a net loss of 4,400 jobs, according to the state's Department of Workforce Solutions. The state has been impacted by the reduction in spending and employment by the federal government. The sector lost 1,100 jobs during the period. New Mexico was 50th in job growth since Martinez took office. Martinez has said that tax cuts enacted during her tenure make the state more competitive in attracting manufacturing jobs. The state was among the finalists for a new Tesla battery plant. She also says that infrastructure investments at the entry port of Santa Teresa will generate transportation and manufacturing jobs.

Polling and opinion

Martinez has one of the highest approval ratings of current United States governors, according to a Public Opinion Strategies survey, conducted for Martinez's campaign. Her approval ratings have not dropped below 60% in her tenure as governor. In an April 2012 edition of the Washington Post, Martinez was named 8th most popular governor in the United States.

As of May 2013, Martinez had an approval rating of 66%, with more than 44% of New Mexico's Democrats stating they approve of her.

A January 2014 poll conducted by Research and Polling Inc., an Albuquerque-based pollster, on behalf of Common Cause New Mexico pegged Martinez's approval rating at 55 percent.

2014 gubernatorial election

Main article: New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2014

On October 15, 2013, Martinez declared she would run for re-election. At the time of her announcement, she had already raised over $2.2 million in campaign contributions, nearly five times the amount of any of her challengers in the gubernatorial Democratic Primary.

Martinez faced no Republican primary opposition. On November 4, 2013, Gary King was the nominee chosen by voters in the Democratic primary to challenge Martinez, he received 35% in a five-way race. Exactly one year later, on November 4, 2014, Martinez defeated King to win re-election with 57% of the vote.

Political positions

Martinez had grown up as a Democrat, but became a Republican in 1995.

On August 29, 2012, Martinez gave a speech to the Republican National Convention, where she spoke right before vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, and described her decision to switch parties. She told the story that she was taken to lunch by Republican friends who wanted her to switch parties. She stated that she was going just to be polite, but when she left the luncheon with her husband, she had changed her mind. She told the convention, "When we left that lunch, we got in the car and I looked over at Chuck and said, 'I'll be damned - we're Republicans.'"

Martinez supports a balanced budget and lower government spending. She favors putting taxpayer money into a rainy day fund, and refunding taxpayers to attempt to stimulate growth. Martinez is pro-life and is opposed to elective abortion. Martinez is personally opposed to same-sex marriage, but she accepted the New Mexico Supreme Court's opinion in Griego v. Oliver, which legalized same-sex marriage in New Mexico. She has no record on civil unions. Martinez opposes New Mexico's medical marijuana program, but has indicated that repealing the existing law is not a priority. Martinez opposes portions of the Affordable Care Act, such as the individual mandate, but does not support repeal of the law in its entirety. She also supports Common Core education standards.

In November 2015, Martinez said she opposes the Obama administration's plans to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. until clear plans for background-checking and relocating the refugees are developed.

Personal life

Martinez met her first husband in Norman, Oklahoma, where they were both attending law school. The couple moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the mid-1980s, but divorced three years later. She met her current husband, Chuck Franco, in Las Cruces, where they both worked in law enforcement. He has been a law enforcement officer for more than 30 years and served as the Doña Ana County Undersheriff. Martinez has one stepson, Carlo, who served in the United States Navy.

On September 9, 2011, Martinez stated she did know that her paternal grandparents Adolfo Martinez and Francisca Ortega "arrived without documents." Thorough research revealed that they appeared to have followed the rules at the time and that she is a great-granddaughter of Mexican Revolutionary General Toribio Ortega. On November 14, 2011, Martinez visited Cuchillo Parado, Mexico, for a celebration in honor of her great grandfather, "a revolutionary general who led a band of supporters credited as being the first to take up arms on November 14, 1910, against a decades-long dictator".

On November 7, 2015, The Santa Fe New Mexican revealed that the FBI was conducting an investigation into Martinez’s fundraising activities going back to her first run for governor, focusing on Martinez's chief political consultants Jay McCleskey On March 4, 2016, The Associated Press reported that the investigation was terminated and no charges were forthcoming.

Martinez was in the El Dorado Hotel in Santa Fe when police were called at 1:30am on December 13, 2015, concerning a noisy party. Governor Martinez was there with her family and staff. After police arrived, Governor Martinez repeatedly inquired about who made the complaint and told the police dispatcher that officers that were sent were not needed. But Martinez clearly showed signs of being drunk on the phone and in person to the Santa Fe Police. Nine days later, a recording was brought forward by the police department which featured Martinez stating she knew that there was a person in the hotel causing a disturbance, diverging somewhat from her official statement.

Awards

• 2010 - State Bar of New Mexico named Martinez "Prosecutor of the Year"
• 2013 - Time magazine named Martinez to their 100 most influential people in the world list

Election history

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%
New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2014 Turnout: 503,185		Republican win Majority: 73,913 (14.68%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	288,549	57%
				Gary King	Democratic	214,636	43%
New Mexico gubernatorial primary election, 2014		Republican Majority: 67,127 (100%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	unopposed
New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2010 Turnout: 602,827		Republican win (gain) Majority: 40,605 (6%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	321,219	53%
				Diane Denish	Democratic	280,614	46%
New Mexico gubernatorial primary election, 2010 Turnout: 122,269		Republican Majority: 28,279 (23%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	62,006	51%
				Allen Weh	Republican	33,727	28%
				Doug Turner	Republican	14,166	11%
				Pete Domenici, Jr.	Republican	8,630	7%
				Janice Arnold-Jones	Republican	3,740	3%
3rd Judicial District General Election, 2008		Republican hold Majority: 45,098 (100%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	unopposed
Turnout: 60,451		Republican hold Majority: 9,225 (20%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	34,838	60%
				Gregory Valdez	Democratic	25,613	40%
Turnout: 29,714		Republican hold Majority: 1972 (4%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	15,843	52%
				Kent E. Yalkut	Democratic	13,871	48%
Turnout: 41,839		Republican win (new seat) Majority: 7,505 (18%)		Susana Martinez	Republican	24,672	59%
				Gregory Valdez	Democratic	17,167	41%

[ Source: Wikipedia ]