by Daniel Nardini

Susana Martinez is the governor of New Mexico. Born on July 14, 1959, in El Paso, Texas, she attended Riverside High School before moving on to the University of Texas in El Paso. Martinez graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelors in criminal justice. From there, Martinez went on to the University of Oklahoma College of Law where she graduated in 1986 with a J.D. degree. In 1986, Martinez was admitted to the State Bar of New Mexico, and she became an assistant district attorney for New Mexico’s 3rd Judicial District in Las Cruces. In 1996, Martinez joined the Republican Party, and ran for the office of district attorney. Being elected as district attorney in 1997, she would serve for three terms til 2011. In 2011, she ran for the office of state governor of New Mexico, and defeated rival Diane Denish. Susan Martinez won in a landslide reelection for state governor against New Mexico Attorney General Gary King. Susana Martinez is the first woman to ever be elected to the governorship of New Mexico, and is the first Hispanic woman to be elected state governor in the United States.