The Legislature gave New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish $106,500 to hire personal security.  D.A. Susan Martinez purchased her own gun and hasn’t asked taxpayers to pay for body guards.

The two women, opposing each other in the race to be elected New Mexico’s next governor, have very different ideas on what they need for personal security, and what taxpayers should pay to make them feel safe.

Susana Martinez has been the Dona Ana County District Attorney for 13 years.  In that job she  makes enemies of the kinds of people who create work for body guards.  She and members of her office have the job of putting murderers, rapists, armed robbers and members of organized crime behind bars.  But, according to her spokesman Adam DeGuire, almost as a matter of pride she doesn’t have body guards.  “She takes care of personal security herself.  Sometimes she jokes about it.”

Diane Denish does not deal with violent criminals.  The State Constitution gives the Lt. Governor very limited powers.  She sits on various committees and heads the so-called Children’s Cabinet, but has no executive powers beyond supervising her staff of six people  Only during the Legislative session does she have regular duties as President of the State Senate.  When the Governor is out of state, she fills in, though she hasn’t taken any controversial action during those occasions when she is temporarily governing the state as sitting Governor.

Denish’s neighbors have come to learn the surefire signal that Richardson has left the state.  They can tell by the car of State Police officers that appears outside Denish’s house and stays there all night.

Denish Makes History

Denish has wanted a full-time State Police security detail assigned to her since her first term in office.  Not only did she want the State Police to accompany her around New Mexico, she wanted the state to pay for the officers to travel with her out of state.  We have found evidence that on certain occasions when she traveled around New Mexico, a pair of State Police officers accompanied her.  The record of their presence on the trip appears in the logs of aircraft use and passengers kept by the General Services Department.  Those trips would cost hundreds or thousand of dollars each for the time of the State Police officers. For instance, on September 4, 2007, Denish flew from Santa Fe to Las Cruces.  Her security detail cost the state $797.43.  She stayed overnight, and the jet returned the next day, with a contingent of State Police to bring her back.  The charge for the security detail for that return trip:  $1,160.57.

Denish’s Flight Records

But when it came to a full-time team of State Police bodyguards, Richardson turned her down. This was one of the few recorded instances over the past seven years when Denish and Richardson publicly disagreed.

When Richardson wouldn’t give Denish her own State Police bodyguards, Denish went to the Legislature.

Related: Denish Gets Her Own Appropriation For Personal Security

Thanks to the late Sen. Ben Altamirano of Silver City, back in 2008 she got $106,500 to hire her own personal security personnel. That made Denish the first Lt. Governor in the state’s history to get public funds for personal security.

Reports the AP’s Deborah Baker in the story linked immediately above:

Historically, lieutenant governors haven’t been provided security when they’re going about their duties as lieutenant governor.

Denish said she is the only female lieutenant governor without full- or part-time security. And she said even when she has been acting governor, she hasn’t always been provided security.

She cited several worrisome incidents during her tenure. She said she was forced off Interstate 25 onto the shoulder once while driving alone at dusk; she had car trouble on I-25 and called the governor’s security detail at the mansion to alert them she might need assistance; and was confronted in the parking lot of an Albuquerque radio station by a “very agitated” man with marital problems who had heard her on the air and sought her out.

Even with this six-figure appropriation, Denish still wanted State Police protection in addition to what she hired.  Citing the fact she had her own budget for personal security, Richardson completely stopped the State Police details accompanying Denish on trips around New Mexico.

Martinez’ Security Detail:  A .380 Semi-Automatic

Martinez provides her own personal protection in the form of a .380 semi-automatic handgun.  It is with her at all times.  She is not a large person.  Indeed, she is diminutive.  It’s hard to discern where she has concealed this weapon. Maybe it’s in her purse, maybe not. You simply can’t tell when you are in her presence.

It is not unusual for prosecutors to carry concealed weapons.  Many police officers carry a concealed gun when off-duty.  Martinez gained an early familiarity with firearms when in her teens she worked as a guard for her family’s  security business.

Martinez’s line of work most likely gives her more reason than Denish to fear confrontations with violent people or revenge attacks from members of a criminal’s family or gang.  But when asked if she had any experiences like those Denish used to justify her claim for body guards, Martinez’ spokesman DeGuire shrugged it off.  “Nah, he said.  Everybody knows where Susana lives.  She doesn’t make a big deal out of it.”

[The orginal version of this story incorrectly reported that Martinez carried a .45 automatic].

Related:  Capitol Report New Mexico asks, “Do We Really Need A Lt. Governor?“