RGA Statement on Gary King’s Offensive Comments in New Mexico

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republican Governors Association Communications Director Gail Gitcho issued the following statement in response to New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s offensive comments about Governor Susana Martinez:

“Governor Susana Martinez has been a strong leader and a tireless advocate for the Latino community and, as a principled and effective governor, has devoted herself to improving the lives of all New Mexicans by creating jobs, reducing taxes, and reforming education. Gary King should consider the impact of his insensitive comments on the Hispanic community and immediately apologize. No matter how much his campaign is struggling, is it reprehensible that he would stoop so low to this kind of personal attack.”

Background:

“Susana Martinez of New Mexico is the first female Hispanic governor in the country. She’s also a gun-toting, tough-on-crime conservative Republican, and that’s got Democrats in New Mexico itching to defeat her. Martinez’s Democratic opponent for reelection this year is attorney general Gary King, the son of former three-term governor Bruce King. In new video obtained by The Weekly Standard, the younger King told fellow Democrats at a fundraiser that Martinez ‘does not have a Latino heart.’ King recalled the words of a previous speaker at the fundraiser, Hispanic labor activist Dolores Huerta. ‘She said you can’t go out there and just vote for somebody for governor because they have a Latino surname,’ King says. ‘She said you have to look at them and find out if they have a Latino heart. And we know that Susana Martinez does not have a Latino heart.” (Michael Warren, “NM Dem Says GOP Guv Martinez ‘Does Not Have A Latino Heart,” The Weekly Standard, 9/9/2014)

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