Donald Trump’s criticism at his Tuesday night rally of Gov. Susana Martinez’s performance is all over the news this week, with Republican leaders around the country coming to her defense. But those same leaders say little about the snub she delivered Trump by not attending his rally because she was “very busy.”
New Mexico In Depth’s data reporter, Sandra Fish, dug into the dust-up for the national website Roll Call, calling on two veteran New Mexico political analysts for insight.
“He lashes out at the least bit of disrespect,” Lonna Atkeson, a University of New Mexico political science professor, said of Trump.
But she said of Martinez, “She is a leader in the Republican Party and she can’t just stand on the sidelines.”
Carter Bundy, political director for public employee union AFSCME, said Trump’s criticism carried a grain of truth.
New Mexico’s economy hasn’t rebounded from the recession like neighboring states have.
The 6.2 percent unemployment rate is double that of Colorado, and the state has the highest child poverty rate in the nation at 30 percent. The overall rate is 21 percent. Moreover, New Mexico’s high school graduation rate is the lowest in the nation.
But Martinez has also enjoyed considerable success, the article says, noting her fundraising prowess which has allowed a formidable political team to create a Republican majority in the state house.
Read the full article on Roll Call.