ALBUQUERQUE — The next governor of New Mexico will be a woman.

Republican voters in the state elected Susana Martinez, the district attorney from Doña Ana County, to be the GOP nominee to run against Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Martinez defeated former state Republican chairman Allen Weh, as well as state Rep. Janice Arnold Jones, public-relations company owner Doug Turner and Pete Domenici Jr., son of the former U.S. senator.

Not only are the Republicans running a woman for candidate. The top of the ticket will be two Hispanics.

Martinez's running mate will be Albuquerque businessmen John Sanchez, a former state legislator from Albuquerque who was the Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2002. Sanchez edged out state Sen. Kent Cravens of Albuquerque and former state Rep. Brian Moore in the lieutenant governor primary. Denish's running mate is former party chairman Brian Colón.

Lonna Atkeson, a political-science professor at The University of New Mexico, said the Denish-Martinez match-up "will be a very interesting race because you'd have two women of very different backgrounds. ...They offer very different perspectives about the future."

Atkeson predicted Martinez will focus on corruption and law-and-order themes while Denish will focus on jobs and the economy. "It's going to force Denish to talk about issues she (Martinez) wants to talk about, including immigration. I've always thought of us as a state that ignores immigration."
Will an all-Hispanic ticket help the Republicans in Northern New Mexico, where Hispanics in recent decades have voted overwhelmingly Democratic? If history's any indication, the ethnicity factor might not matter that much.

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Get results from the election by NM Secretary of State from the June 1, 2010 vote.

See the election day photo gallery http://tinyurl.com/2dgkyw4

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In 2002, Republican Sanchez beat Richardson among Anglo voters by 45 percent to 42 percent. But Sanchez drew only 22 percent of the Hispanic vote compared with Richardson's 72 percent, according to data compiled by Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling Inc.

Of course, one difference this time is that Richardson is Hispanic, while Denish is Anglo.

Asked whether having a Hispanic gubernatorial ticket will help Republicans make inroads into the Hispanic vote, Sanderoff said in an interview Tuesday, "It sure can't hurt." He said having a woman and a Hispanic at the top of the ticket creates "energy" and positive "symbolism" for the GOP. "Sometimes the Republican ticket is seen as not being that diverse," he said.

Having Sanchez as a running mate will be an even stronger statement for the Republicans regarding diversity, Sanderoff said.

Martinez's gender and ethnicity might ease the "guilt factor" among Democrats tempted to vote Republican, he said.

Martinez could move "center right" as many Republicans do after a primary in which they've had to appeal to the conservative party base. "Perhaps instead of talking about 'amnesty' for illegal immigrants, she might want to find a niche issue such as driver's licenses for illegal immigrants," Sanderoff said.

Or, he said, Martinez want to target socially conservative Hispanic Democrats with direct mailings and radio ads against abortion and gay marriage. "Hispanics tend to be more liberal on economic issues, but many are conservatives on social issues," Sanderoff said.

But Republicans have some work ahead of them in healing divisions within their own party after a contentious primary. Although the primary started out remarkably civil, in the last two weeks the rivalry between Martinez and Weh turned vicious, with each of the front-runners using ads attacking the other. In an unusual move, state GOP chairman Harvey Yates took sides in the battle, defending Martinez's ad and denouncing Weh's.

Those lingering hard feelings were evident Tuesday at the Republican watch party at Albuquerque's Marriott Pyramid. Only one candidate, Domenici, was seen at the get-together.

Domenici pledged to support the Republican ticket. But Weh made no similar pledge Tuesday night. His campaign manager, Whitney Cheshire, said she didn't know whether Weh would support Martinez.

The elder Domenici said that while the race did become increasingly negative, he doubts the bitterness will remain a problem for the GOP ticket. "There's too much time between the primary and the general," he said. "There's plenty of time for healing."

Martinez's campaign was boosted in recent weeks with the endorsement of former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who included Martinez as one of her "Mama Grizzlies" — conservative female candidates around the country.

Although Palin is, according to polls, a divisive figure, Sanderoff said her support probably would have little if any effect on Martinez's campaign. "Liberal Democrats who don't like Sarah Palin aren't the ones who would vote for Martinez anyway," he said. "But it could hurt her with independents who aren't enamored with Palin."

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.

Kate Nash contributed to this report