New Mexico Governor's Race Tests Depth of Voters' Anti-Incumbent Mood

Sept. 28, 2010— -- New Mexico is one place women are poised to make history this election season, with either Democrat Lt. Gov. Diane Denish or Republican district attorney Susana Martinez likely to become the state's first female governor.

It is only the third time in U.S. history two women have gone head-to-head for a state's top job. The Oklahoma gubernatorial race this year is the fourth.

But who voters choose in New Mexico on Nov. 5 may be as significant as the milestone itself, signaling just how deep anti-incumbent, anti-establishment sentiment runs among voters this election year.

Denish, who's served with Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson since 2002, is running in a state where Democrats have a 50 to 32 percent edge over Republicans among registered voters. President Obama carried New Mexico with 57 percent of the vote in 2008.

Yet Denish has trailed in several recent polls, burdened by ties to Richardson. He has become highly unpopular, brought down by the struggling economy, a looming state budget deficit and swirling allegations of corruption.

"We know what we have had the last eight years," said Martinez, who cast herself as the candidate of "bold change" at a debate in Albuquerque Sunday night. "We have to look at those eight years and make sure we don't have a third Bill Richardson-Diane Denish administration."

But Democrats say Lt. Gov. Denish has always been "her own person," and they're fighting back, running TV ads painting the Republican Martinez, a Texas native, as an outsider with ties to corporate and "Texas backers."

"She's not talking about what really matters to New Mexico families, about education, energy, environment -- and most of all she's not talking about jobs and job creation," said Denish of Martinez. "She has a very different agenda. She's fighting for big corporations, the people that are bankrolling her campaign."

One Democratic poll released Monday shows Denish neck and neck with Martinez, and campaign finance records give her an edge with more than $1.3 million in the bank heading into the final five weeks of the campaign.

She will also get a boost Thursday from Vice President Joe Biden, who is expected to headline a fundraiser in Albuquerque.