Roswell Daily Record
Voters choose Martinez
Vol. 119, No. 263 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Pearce’s bus tour visits Roswell • GHS reverses old custom • Bulldogs take regular season title • Gov honors NM sheriff’s deputy ... • NMMI wins opener
INSIDE SPORTS
THE WAITING GAME
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Minutes after the World Series ended, the grounds crew for the Texas Rangers started fixing the pitching mound while the visiting San Francisco Giants celebrated nearby. One of the biggest questions going into the shortest winter ever for the Rangers is whether ace left-hander Cliff Lee will be on that mound in five months, when they begin the 2011 season as defending ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Sharon Glenn Jackson • Linda Ruth Lorton-Smith • Jo Lyles • Marcial Martinez • Michael J. O’Dette - PAGE B3
HIGH ...66˚ LOW ....38˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
WEDNESDAY
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NO HAPPY MEAL FOR YOU!
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — For some veggies-hating children, Happy Meals won’t be so happy anymore. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 on Tuesday to approve an ordinance that would limit toy giveaways in fast food children’s meals that have excessive calories, sodium and fat. - PAGE B3
November 3, 2010
AP Photo
From left, Governor-elect Susana Martinez and her sister, Leticia, walk hand-in-hand past a campaign banner on their way to her campaign party in Las Cruces, Tuesday.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Republican Susana Martinez won election Tuesday as governor of New Mexico, making history as the first Hispanic woman to become a state’s chief executive. Martinez, 51, defeated Democrat Diane Denish to also be elected New Mexico’s first female governor. There was no incumbent in the race, with Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson barred from seeking re-election because he is finishing his second consecutive terms. Martinez, a career prosecutor from southern New Mexico, won with 54 percent of the vote, according to unof ficial retur ns. In speaking to supporters in
Las Cruces, Martinez said “New Mexicans chose a new direction. As I said during the campaign, we must do more than just change the party in power if we’re going to set a new course in New Mexico. We must work across party lines — Republicans and Democrats — to move our state forward. We have a lot of work to do and tonight we have taken a significant step in tur ning our New Mexico around for all of us.” When Martinez takes office on Jan. 1, she will confront a looming budget shortfall that will force her to grapple with potentially unrealistic campaign prom-
ises not to raise taxes while protecting public schools and Medicaid from spending cuts. In conceding the race to Martinez, Denish urged Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature to work with the incoming governor to deal with the state’s financial problems. “There is hard work to do. It will require a willingness to compromise on both sides of the aisle. It will demand civility and respect,” said Denish. “This has been a hard-fought race but starting tonight is when we can do better if we all pull together for the
County supports GOP; Ortega, Duffey tie
See MARTINEZ, Page A8
MATTHEW ARCO RECORD STAFF WRITER
Republicans made big gains across the nation and in New Mexico in Tuesday’s general election. The trends followed locally and in Chaves County, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats, voters overwhelmingly supported Republican candidates — excluding one local county commission race. Democrat Eloy Ortega and Republican James Duf fey were in a deadheat in the race for DisMark Wilson Photo trict 1. Each candidate received 1,002 votes, State Representative hopeful Michael Trujillo, right, and Oscar according to unof ficial Martinez, running for magistrate judge, during a watch party at the Rodeway Inn, Tuesday evening. county results. Officials took in nine District Court to request a glad it’s over,” said Duffey, provisional ballots that recount. referring to the campaign, could break the tie. How“I always knew it would though adding, “There will ever, they are unable to be very close,” Ortega be a recount.” review the results until On the national stage, the County Commission said. “We’ll see what hapfreshman U.S. House of canvasses the election, pens in the end.” His opponent expressed Representatives lawmaker according to state statute, said Rhoda Coakley, coun- satisfaction over cam- Harry Teague lost his bid paigning coming to a for re-election to Steve ty clerk. Coakley expects to open close, even though official Pearce, who held the posithe provisional ballots on results are more than a tion just prior to Teague Nov. 8. Both candidates few days away. being elected. Nearly 70 may also file petitions with “Win, lose or draw, I’m percent of Chaves County
Mark Wilson Photo
Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, texts results from the election, Tuesday night, during a watch party held at GOP Headquarters.
voters supported Pearce, voting 10,931–4,800 in favor of the Republican lawmaker, who says New Mexicans are looking for a change in Washington. “It’s exciting,” Pearce said. “We’ve worked almost 18 months on this and it’s time for us to fix the things of the county that people want fixed.” Following the election
results, Teague said it was an “honor” to represent the 2nd Congressional District. “Tonight, the vote didn’t go our way. And like you, I am disappointed,” he said in an e-mail thanking supporters. “But when I think about going from being a kid who had to drop out of
See COUNTY, Page A8
Tea time: GOP wins the House, falls short of Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Resurgent Republicans won control of the House and cut deeply into the Democrats’ majority in the Senate in momentous midterm elections shadowed by recession, ushering in a new era of divided government certain to complicate the final two years of President Barack Obama’s term. House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner, voice breaking with emotion, declared shortly before midnight Tuesday that the results were “a repudiation of Washington, a repudia-
tion of big government and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the people.” Obama monitored retur ns at the White House, then telephoned Boehner with congratulations in a call that underscored the power shift. On a night of triumph, Republicans fell short in their effort to gain control of the Senate and take full command of Congress, although they picked up at least six seats. They failed in an attempt to defeat Majority Harry Reid in Nevada, winner in an espe-
cially costly and brutal race in a year filled with them. Boehner and his Republicans needed to gain 40 seats for a House majority, and they got them. They led for 11 more. In Senate races, tea party favorites Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida coasted to easy Senate victories, overcoming months of withering Democratic attacks on their conservative views. But Christine O’Donnell lost badly in Delaware, for a seat that Republican
Youngest test-taker at ENMU-R
See GOP, Page A8
EMILY RUSSO MILLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
CLASSIFIEDS..........B7 COMICS.................B4 ENTERTAINMENT...B10 FINANCIAL .............B6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B7 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WASHINGTON .........A9 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
Emily Russo Miller Photo
John Liakos, 9, reads a book after school.
Usually students don’t have to worry about taking collegiate-level tests until they are in the high school. But one fifth-grader has already taken a standardized test similar to the SAT three times, making him the youngest examinee at the ENMU-Roswell Testing Center. The 9-year-old boy, John Liakos, took the School and College Ability Test (SCAT), an above-grade level exam, which measures math and verbal skills, as part of the See LIAKOS, Page A8
AP Photo
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio celebrates the GOP's victory, Tuesday.
Car fire
Mark Wilson Photo
Firefighters extinguish a vehicle that caught fire while being driven in an open field just north of West Second Street near the Relief Route, Tuesday afternoon. According to a witness, the operator of the car was driving around the field and came to an abrupt halt when the vehicle caught fire. The driver promptly left the scene before authorities arrived.