Friends and colleagues of former Gov. Bruce King mourned New Mexico's longest serving governor Friday, recalling the Democrat as a model of integrity who defined face-to-face, retail politics in a rural state.

A stream of people passed through the Capitol Rotunda, where King was lying in state. He died last week at his ranch in Stanley at the age of 85.

King's two sons, Bill and Gary, shook hands and hugged the mourners — many of them legislators and former government workers who had served under King. Gary King has followed his father into elective politics, serving in the Legislature and now his first term as attorney general.

"The greatest legacy of Bruce King is that Bruce was the people's governor. Bruce never put himself before the people," Senate President Tim Jennings, a Roswell rancher, said in an interview. "He was the standard really by which ethics in politics should be held."

Former President Bill Clinton is to attend King's funeral today in Moriarty.

In the marble-walled Rotunda, large photographs of the three-term governor flanked his bronze casket. It was draped in a white cloth bearing the state seal. A two-man honor guard stood a silent vigil.

Gov. Bill Richardson arrived early and paused briefly in front of King's casket, placing his right hand on it. He gave King's sons a folded New Mexico state flag and remained in the receiving line for about a half hour.

Richardson told reporters that King "represented New Mexico politics at its best."

"In New Mexico, governors will walk down the street and people can talk to them. In other big states, they never see their governors," said Richardson. "Bruce King championed the art of being accessible to people, of shaking their hand ... asking them how they are doing."

Richardson said King taught him the importance of grass-roots politics.

"He told me once that issues were important, but personal contact with voters was more important. And in this age of digital technology and the Internet, I still think it's the case. And I think that's his ultimate legacy, at least to me."

King was governor in 1971-74, 1979-82 and 1991-94. He also served in the Legislature, including as speaker of the House, and was first elected in 1954 to the Santa Fe County Commission.

"He was the kindest, gentlest man. He ran government with a firm-but-so-caring hand," said Ron Forte, who was a deputy Cabinet secretary in the highway department in King's final term. "Even when you kind of got in trouble with him, you never felt like you were in trouble. He always made it pleasant for you. How many bosses do that?"




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