As Trudy Valerio Healy worked to choose a theme for a Taos campaign event for Democrat Diane Denish, she found it hard to pick an issue to spark voters' attention ahead of the November gubernatorial election.

However, a YouTube video that raises questions about how Republican Susana Martinez would deal with New Mexico's water supply changed all that.

Once the video spread, and people began to speculate about how Martinez, who grew up in El Paso, would deal with long-standing water disputes between New Mexico and Texas, Healy had her theme.

About two weeks later, hundreds of people attended a rally at the Sagebrush Inn in Taos in support of Denish and her stances on the emotionally charged issue of water rights and the environment, foreshadowing a theme Democrats in Northern New Mexico are using in an effort to keep voters in their column.

Getting Democrats to turn out for Denish in any other year might be a given in the north, a heavily Hispanic stronghold for the Democratic Party.

But this isn't any other year. And Denish's opponent has something big going for her: Her last name is Martinez. That means the Democrats have to flex their get-out-the-vote muscle more than ever, observers say.

"I think a lot of people that just aren't up with the issues are going to just vote for her because she's a Martinez," Healy said, "and that's what we're up against."

Still a Texan?

Although Martinez has served as district attorney in Las Cruces since 1996, a sign displayed in Sunday's Santa Fe Fiesta parade derided Martinez as a Texan, stating "No Tejana Susana," and showed an outline of the state of Texas with jaws about to bite the state of New Mexico.

Them's fighting words in the north, as well as in parts of the state where water activists fear competition from the giant neighboring state for resources.

The sign, as well as rally-goers, echoed the theme of the YouTube piece, which suggests Martinez might have loyalties to Texas and not New Mexico when it comes to who gets to use how much water.

One version of the video, created by a user named WaterGuardianNM, raises questions including why Martinez has received campaign money from Texans.

"Susana Martinez has received millions in out-of-state donations, a lot of it coming from Texas property developers and oil companies," a man's voice says over a photo of a running water spigot in a forested area.

"We know Susana is from Texas, but what is it that these property developers and oilmen want for their money?" the off-camera voice says. "Should we really be putting a Texan in charge of New Mexico's water?" (The water stream slows to just drops as the last sentence is being said.)

The question posed in the video is a major topic for the whole state, said Bruce Wetherbee, a Santa Fe community activist who is helping to start a new group that is highlighting Martinez's campaign contributions and what he said is her lack of presence on issues such as managing water resources.

The new group, called We Are New Mexico, expected to begin airing radio ads over the weekend.

The campaign money alluded to in the video is substantial.

Oil and gas producers and individuals in the industry contributed at least $220,000 to Martinez in the past 10 weeks, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Martinez in May received $450,000 from Houston developer Bob Perry and his wife.

Martinez campaign manager Ryan Cangiolosi accused Denish of "leading people to believe she (Martinez) would do anything that harms the hardworking families of Northern New Mexico," which he called "despicable, shameful and beneath an individual seeking to be governor."

"Denish knows that Martinez will protect New Mexico's water rights and work directly with the community to apply common-sense principles to land and environmental decisions that has escaped the current administration. As governor, Susana Martinez will instill integrity and decency to the office of governor; both are attributes that appear to have been lost on its current occupant and his aspiring 'good, loyal soldier.' "

Healy said voters she knows would like to hear Martinez talk about water and outline her plans.

"When she's not talking about what's going to happen with water, then that is concerning," Healy said.

Democrats worried?

A factor that makes the situation in places like Taos so pressing, observers say, is that the Democrats have to win big in northern counties to win statewide.

Traditionally, that hasn't been a problem, and some say it shouldn't be again. The most recent voter-registration numbers posted on the Secretary of State's Office website show that 68 percent of registered voters in Taos County in 2006 were Democrats, while 17 percent declined to pick a party or chose another party. Just 15 percent were Republicans.

An Albuquerque Journal poll showed Martinez appeared to have an advantage over Denish, a Hobbs native, in every region of the state except the north-central counties, where Democrats rely on solid margins to win statewide races.

That's probably something Denish can continue to count on, said University of New Mexico political science professor Christine Sierra.

"It's very hard for Republican candidates to dislodge them. Of course, having said that, Pete Domenici could do it," she said, referring to the long-serving Republican former U.S. senator.

Although Martinez is seen as the new kid on the block and as an outsider, Sierra said she still could gain traction among some Hispanic voters in the north, which would bode ill for Denish.

"If there is enthusiasm for her in the north, that suggests she's really on a roll," Sierra said. "If she can cut into that Democratic stronghold, she really improves her chances."

The extent to which ethnicity might be a factor at the ballot box, however, is difficult to gauge.

"Given the number of high-profile Hispanics holding public office in the north, the novelty, so to speak, of her being a Hispanic woman governor might not be as big a deal as perhaps in other places," Sierra said. "Nevertheless, people will definitely take notice because I think there is a lot of pride in seeing a Hispanic woman perhaps lead the state for the first time."

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.