In front of adoring fans at the Marriott Hotel at Uptown, Martinez spoke a mix of Spanish and English to the GOP election party for roughly 13 minutes after Democratic challenger Gary King’s concession.
The crowd’s cheers were also a combination of Spanish and English following Martinez being named the first Hispanic female to be re-elected as a state governor.
“I stand here tonight, humbled by your confidence and grateful for your trust,” Martinez said. “I hope that tonight’s results speak for themselves. Promises made and promises kept.”
In Martinez’s acceptance speech, she addressed that the problems she would like to address are getting better.
Martinez said her campaign had to fight for every vote because members were no longer voting for affiliated parties, but for leaders.
“We want leaders who chose reform and not the status quo,” Martinez said. “It’s important that everyone who believed in New Mexico voted. It’s important for everyone for people like me, to believe that tomorrow will be better than today.”
With a lopsided amount of expenditures, Martinez’s fight for every vote may have been linked to a nearly 4:1 difference in spending. The Governor spent $7,927,860.17 opposed to King’s campaign that used $2,014,014.50, according to the secretary of state website.
Martinez beat King by a final 70,556 votes as of press time.
Both candidates focused on education this election. Martinez referred to increasing graduation numbers as a sign of progression in the education field.
“Does it help our children learn?” Martinez said. “There’s no more important question than that. Are our children learning?”
Despite his losing effort, King in his concession speech said there is a great deal of change needed for New Mexico’s education.
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“I think that there’s a lot that needs to be with regards to our schools,” King said. “I think that there’s a lot that needs to be done with regard to our children in New Mexico.”
Bill Diggs, a part-time employee, said he is optimistic about Martinez’s ability to bring more jobs to allow him to gain full-time work.
Diggs said Martinez kept the promises she made in her 2010 bid. He said he will continue to trust her until she steers him otherwise.
“I believe in her. She has done what she had said she will do for the first four years,” Diggs said. “Jobs are my number one concern, personally.”
Martinez addressed the increased amount of jobs in New Mexico in her speech and said the amount of jobs will continue to rise.
“We’ve added over 32,000 new private sector jobs since 2011,” Martinez said. “I promise you, we’re just getting started.”
Although bringing in jobs was a major point for Martinez, she said she wants the jobs to be a focal point to encourage people to stay in New Mexico.
“We have to make sure our children can find good paying jobs here in New Mexico when they finish school,” Martinez said.
While Martinez continues to work on keeping promises and building a stronger foundation for the state, she said the amount of support she received stems beyond parties and will help to build a strong relationship for her second term in office.
Liam Cary-Eaves is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo and Moriah Carty is the assistant culture editor. They can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
