Democrat struggles against Gov. Susana Martinez

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) Democrat Gary King hopes to follow his fathers footsteps into the governorship of New Mexico but hes struggled to raise money and make much headway against Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, the nations only Latina governor.

Martinez has outspent King more than 6-to-1 on television ads and a new poll showed Martinez maintaining a comfortable lead in whats traditionally a Democratic-leaning state. The Democratic challenger had only $123,000 in his campaign account this month as the race entered the final stretch.

TV isnt everything in a modern world, said King, a two-term attorney general and the son of the states longest serving governor, the late Bruce King, who won three terms from the 1970s to 1990s.

I campaign a lot in the style of Bruce King, which is to go out and meet voters face to face, King said at a recent political forum.

An Albuquerque Journal poll released Sunday showed 53 percent of likely voters backing Martinez to 38 percent for King, with 9 percent undecided.

Martinez made history four years ago by becoming the nations first female Hispanic governor and the first woman elected governor of New Mexico. Shes considered a rising star in a party thats searching for ways nationally to appeal to Hispanic voters.

Martinez has succeeded in doing that in New Mexico, where Hispanics account for 47 percent of the population. The latest Journal poll showed two-fifths of likely Hispanic voters supporting the governor. Thats strong for a Republican in a state in which Democrats traditionally win by margins of 2-to-1 or better in heavily Hispanic areas.

Martinez also had the backing of 28 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of independents, according to the poll conducted for the paper by Albuquerque-based Research and Polling.

Were less than two weeks away from the election and Gary King is still below 40 percent, despite the Democratic Partys 47 percent share of statewide voter registration, pollster Brian Sanderoff said.

His firm surveyed 614 voters over a three-day period last week, and the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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Democrat struggles against Gov. Susana Martinez

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