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SANTA FE - Susana Martinez, the country's first Hispanic female governor, said Saturday she is proof that all things are possible in America.
"My family didn't have a lot of money, but I was a child of privilege because I was born in the greatest country in the world," she said during her inaugural speech on the frigid Santa Fe Plaza. "... In America, anyone with hope, determination and courage should have the opportunity to succeed."
Martinez, a 51-year-old Republican, moves to the top of state government after 14 years as the district attorney of Do-a Ana County.
Even with a wind-chill factor that made the temperature feel like it was 6 degrees, about 500 people attended her inauguration. Martinez promised them that she would "grow opportunities for every New Mexican willing to seize them."
In addition to being the first female Hispanic to head a state, Martinez is the first woman to serve as governor of New Mexico.
Never in her 15-minute speech did she mention political parties. But she made veiled criticisms of the eight-year administration of Democrat Bill Richardson, who left the governor's office at midnight.
She said she would work to correct a culture of low expectations in public education, and that she would make sure that government, like people running their households, cut its budget to live within its means.
Martinez said taking high office is an honor that necessitates humility.
"It is human to think of a personal journey, but a mistake to
The former prosecutor said the government she presides over would be an enemy of crime. In the bitter cold, Martinez stumbled for the first and only time during her speech.
She promised to be tough on "lawmakers," then laughed and corrected herself. "I mean tough on lawbreakers," she said.
Her goal, she said, is "a just, prospering and limitless New Mexico."
Her voice cracked with emotion when she talked about creating a place "where dreams are made."
Martinez grew up in El Paso, but never mentioned her Texas roots. She focused instead on the bootstrap story of her life. From a lower-middle-class family, she went to college at the University of Texas at El Paso, law school at the University of Oklahoma and then had a career as a prosecutor in Las Cruces.
She said her parents "grew old before their time" so she could have a chance at a quality education and success that now includes running a government.
Her message of fiscal responsibility resonated with Frank Lujan, a retired soldier from Albuquerque, who worked on her campaign.
"There was a lot of waste in the last administration. We are the poorest state, but Richardson spent like we are the richest," Lujan said. "She is going to clean that up."
Lujan's wife, Rosemary, said she was caught up in the moment, not the future.
"We're making history today," she said.
For Bryan Steagall, a gas and oil man from Las Cruces, Martinez's inauguration was something of a personal milestone. He has known Martinez's husband, Chuck Franco, since seventh grade. Along the way, Steagall became a fan of the new governor.
"She is very educated, very smart, very magnetic. I think she is going to do us well," he said.
Martinez asked for the prayers of New Mexicans as she starts her new career as a chief executive. Dedication, she said, would mark her style.
"We will try and if we fail, we will try harder," she said. "We are bigger than our troubles."
She knows the state is facing a budget deficit as the state Legislature prepares to go to work this month. Some Republicans say the deficit could be $800 million to $1 billion, a figure higher than either Martinez or her vanquished opponent, Democrat Diane Denish, estimated during the campaign.
But on this day, history and not finances was the prevailing topic.
"They said it would be a cold day when New Mexico elected a woman governor," said U.S. Rep.-elect Steve Pearce, a southern New Mexican who served as master of ceremonies for the inauguration.
Martinez left the stage and the brutal temperatures after about 45 minutes for a day of public appearances and an evening gala. After that, the work of governing begins.
Milan Simonich is chief of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership Santa Fe Bureau.
