Tonight: NM Governor to Introduce VP Nominee at RNC
It had been rumored that she would be the one speaking as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Instead, she will be introducing him. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez will introduce Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan at the Republican National Convention at 8 p.m., Mountain Daylight Time, in Tampa, Fla.
At the same time, ABC7 will be bringing local reaction from a watch party in the governor’s home state.
Martinez was elected to lead the state in 2010 and is the country’s first Hispanic female governor. She won the historically Democratic state and has since maintained relatively high approval ratings — recent polling shows her approval stands at more than 50 percent.
Martinez has been described as a “triple threat” for Republicans because she’s a woman, Hispanic and a former Democrat. Martinez was raised as a Democrat but decided to change parties in 1996. At the time, she was a Dona Ana County prosecutor and was contemplating running for district attorney. She says she learned her views were more closely in line with those of the Republican Party.
Martinez won the election and was the Dona Ana County district attorney until she won the governorship in 2010. She will be speaking among several of the GOP’s most familiar names Wednesday night: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and 2008 presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
With a speech sandwiched between those of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Paul Ryan, Martinez is indicative of the GOP’s attempt to showcase the changing face of the Republican Party. The two speakers leading up to the vice presidential nominee are both minorities.
