Martinez, Weh top GOP governor ballot

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - A surprising landslide at the New Mexico Republican Party's pre-primary convention Saturday as Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez ended up handily winning the most votes in the gubernatorial race.

Martinez, and former Republican Party chairman Allen Weh are the only two GOP hopefuls in the race for governor who collected enough votes to guarantee a spot on the June primary ballot.

Martinez won more than 46 percent of the delegates' support. Weh came in a distance second with 26-percent, enough to meet the 20 percent minimum for a ballot spot.

State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, and businessman Doug Turner came in third and fourth, respectively. Pete Domenici, Jr. finished last, with less than 5 percent of the vote.

Arnold-Jones, Turner, and Domenici expressed confidence that they will be able to collect enough petition signatures from registered Republicans to ensure them each a place on the June 1 ballot.

"The convention is only an indicator of the activists. I am talking to hundreds of people and they are excited about the message that i have to bring," Arnold-Jones said.

Domenici said, "We have no intention of stepping out of this race. We will run the race through June first at full speed."
"I'm an optimist," Doug Turner said, "I look forward to continuing on through the primary, and I think we can actually pull this off."

The Republican gubernatorial candidates have 10 days to submit 2,124 signatures to the Secretary of State's office to make it on the ballot in the June primary.

Whichever GOP candidate wins the primary will face Democrat Lt. Gov. Diane Denish who is unopposed in the Nov. 2 general election.

On Saturday, Denish accepted her nomination at the Democratic pre-primary convention at the Buffalo Thunder Resort north of Santa Fe.