Will New Mexico See a Female Governor in 2010?

This year, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico will end his eight year stint in the position and so many prominent people are vying for a chance at his seat. This includes two Democrats and four Republicans. Three of the candidates are female, which gives New Mexico the chance to have its first female governor ever. They include Democrat and current Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish and Republicans, Dona Ana County Third Judicial District Attorney, Susana Martinez and State Representative from Albuquerque, Janice Arnold-Jones. Today, we'll take a look at the two GOP candidates.

Janice Arnold-Jones is currently serving her fourth term in the New Mexico House of Representatives, where she has fought for public access to government. As a matter of fact, last year she received the 2009 Lights of Liberty award from the conservative Rio Grande Foundation for using a web cam to allow the public to watch New Mexico's legislature. She currently serves on the House Taxation and Revenue Committee and the Voters and Elections Committee, and in the past has served on a number of other committees, as well as the Blue Ribbon Tax Commission, Election Reform Task Force. A Conservative, she is currently campaigning on the the four "E's," education, economy, energy, and ethics.

Her involvement in her community extends beyond her political service. She is currently the chair of the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center. She also works with the New Mexico Commission for Public Broadcasting and the Bernalillo County Council of Health Councils. Arnold-Jones is the chief coach of the American Youth Soccer Organization Region 104 and developed an annual training and tracking regimen for over 500 coaches and 350 referees, which has been recognized as the best in the nation.

She has worked in project management, business management consulting, as a research analysis, a technical writer and an audio/video writer and producer. She is currently employed by Parallax, Inc., where she manages the local office. She is a graduate of Albuquerque High School and the University of New Mexico, where she served as the Vice President of the Associated Students. She and her husband, John L. Jones Commander, Retired United States Navy, reside in Albuquerque and have two children.

Susana Martinez's decision to run for governor was called a "game changer" by the New Mexico media. She has served as the District Attorney for the 3rd Judicial District in Dona Ana County, New Mexico for thirteen years. Also a conservative, she pledges to "cut wasteful spending, lower taxes to create more jobs, end 'pay-to-play' practices and other corruption in government and fight to reform education." She believes in less government, lower taxes, personal responsibility and is a strong proponent of both life and the 2nd Amendment.

Martinez is popular with the people. She won her current seat by earning 60% of the vote and has been re-elected three times. Also, Republicans are generally outnumbered 3 to 1 in her county, but Martinez managed to win, anyway, with hard work and fighting for what is right. Throughout her career, she has earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor and has tried numerous child abuse and homicide cases, including convicting the killer in the case that is responsible for the creation of Katie's Law, a law that required law enforcement officials take DNA for most violent felony arrests and include the samples in a database. As a matter of fact, in 2008, she was named Heart Magazine's "Woman of the Year" for her dedication to children's advocacy. She has also worked to battle public corruption.

Martinez was born in Rio Grande Valley to a hardworking, middle class family. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and attended law school at the University of Oklahoma. She is married to Chuck Franco, who works in law enforcement and serves as the Dona Ana County Undersheriff. She has a stepson, Carlo, who is currently in the United States Navy.

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Elizabeth Scott: A Voice for Education in Washington's 21st

According to her website, Elizabeth Scott is "an educator, a community leader and local budget watchdog, a school leader who helps students learn debate and speech skills and takes the time to deliver dictionaries to kids who need them. She is a loving wife and mother of three who says, 'Now is the time for the rest of us to step up and fix the mess in Olympia.'"

Perhaps this is why Scott has decided to run for office in Washington's 21st district. The aspiring State Representative has been endorsed by a number of influential people, including DiAnna Brannan, founder of the Christian Homeschool Network, radio host Kirby Wilbur, and Rob McKenna, Washington State's attorney general, as well as a number of Republican and Libertarian activists, local politicians, and Republican Women's groups.

Scott's professional background is heavy in education and her dedication to the issue is evident in her campaign. She has taught English as a Second Language to students in Illinois, South Carolina and Washington, as well as overseas in China and the United Arab Emirates. She taught at Edmonds Community College, North Seattle Community College, Lake Washington Technical College, and was a founding faculty member of Cascadia Community College. Scott also worked as a Reasearch and Policy Analyst at Evergreen Freedom Foundation in Olympia, Washington.

She attributes this experience to knowing the "critical role" schools and colleges play in "shaping the future," and claims she can be advocate for her district and the state's kids. Scott says education can be improved in a number of ways,

"...reward good teachers, give principals freedom and flexibility, and stop micromanaging from Olympia if we attach the money to the student and allow competition do its miraculous work from within the system. I will work to raise academic standards by returning to an emphasis on math and reading so our students will be able to meet basic federal requirements, and by allowing principals and teachers to take a creative approach in order to help their students reach these standards."

But she isn't a single-issue candidate. Scott is a big proponent of individual rights and liberty. As a member of the National Rifle Association, Scott says she will do what it takes to see to it that the Second Amendment is upheld. She will also be a strong defender of property rights, working to remove excess tax and regulation. She is for smaller government with less spending at both the state and federal levels, and has spoken at a number of Tea Parties over the last year.

So what other credentials does Scott bring to the table? She's been very active in her community over the years; she's been a member of the Edmonds Citizens' Levy Review Committee, where she worked to avoid tax increases. She's been a member of the Evergreen Republican Women's Club since 2004 and even served as the Outreach Chair from 2005-2006. She has also volunteered with local middle school and high school students in a number of capacities.

As mentioned above, Scott is a member of the N.R.A. and is currently learning marksmanship. A self-described "Midwest farm girl," she is also a member of the Washington State Farm Bureau, the Snohomish County Chapter of the Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights, and Evergreen Freedom Foundation.

Scott has a B.A. in Linguistics with a minor in Literature from Seattle Pacific University. She also holds a M.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois. She and her husband Paul are the parents of three children and are very active in their church.