Gary King in 2014 New Mexico Governor's race

On Tax Reform: AdWatch: Attacked for voting for 1987 tax hike

Gov. Susana Martinez's campaign hits Democrat Gary King with a new TV attack ads, this one blasting King for voting for "the biggest tax increase in history." It's similar to a mailer that was sent last week. Not the history of New Mexico, mind you, but, according to the ad, the biggest tax increase in history! This was in 1987.

The ad is kind of comical though. It's got light-hearted music and at one point, King ("the King") can be heard chuckling. It sounds like an actual recording of the King's laugh. And yes, the Democratic candidate is shown in a crown. Here's the transcript:

Gary King voted for the largest tax increase in history. Made working families pay more. Higher taxes on food, medicine and gas. The tax hike hit struggling families the hardest.

But Gary King took good care of himself. King repeatedly voted to raise his own pay and voted to sweeten his own taxpayer retirement.

Gary King: Higher taxes for us. Sweet perks for the King.

Source: Santa Fe New Mexican on 2014 New Mexico gubernatorial race Aug 6, 2014

On Education: School report cards OK if resources go to low-score schools

King said, "I'm going to try to speak with educators around the state. My understanding as I talk to teachers and superintendents is that they don't really understand how the grade is determined on the report cards (for schools), so it's very difficult to know what to do to improve your system, if you don't know what caused you to get a C or a D.

"I noticed the biggest number of schools were D in New Mexico. Certainly, it's of interest to everybody to know if you are a D school, what are we going to do about that? Does it mean you get mentors and tutors and such? If you do, that's positive. If schools get a bad grade and you're going to help them identify their issues, [and] develop a plan on how you are going to do better (that's positive), but if you don't know on what their analysis is based, it is difficult to know what to do.

"I'm feeling a lot of frustration from educators out there, principals, superintendents, teachers and lunchroom ladies about what are we trying to accomplish here."

Source: Ruidoso News on 2014 New Mexico governor race Jul 31, 2014

On Environment: Promote New Mexico tourism: 'Stay another day'

King said, "When my dad was governor, he had a project with tourism department called 'Stay another day.' They really worked hard to figure out what would cause tourists to stay another day in New Mexico. They had information when (tourists) went to Carlsbad Caverns about cooling off in the mountains at Ruidoso or Cloudcroft and encouraged people to extend their trips and make sure they spent a little more of their vacation money in New Mexico." Source: Ruidoso News on 2014 New Mexico governor race Jul 31, 2014

On Jobs: Increase minimum wage & whole economy will do better

King said, "I think we need to get out there and see what we can do to stimulate the economy in rural New Mexico, in particular. But I did see where Albuquerque, out of the 100 largest cities in the U.S., is dead last in economic growth right now, and job creation, so it's not just rural areas that are struggling."

"I've been proposing an increase in the minimum wage. It's been a long time since we had an increase in New Mexico. We talked to a lot of small business owners who wondered how that impacted them. I saw a study about a month ago that said of the 22 states that increased minimum wage, their economies all had improved. States where they have not increased the minimum wage have not by and large. I think that really is an indicator that people living at minimum wage level, if they get more money, they spend it on groceries (or meals and activities within the community). If people at the base level in New Mexico are doing better, the whole economy will do better," he said.

Source: Ruidoso News on 2014 New Mexico governor race Jul 31, 2014

The above quotations are from 2014 New Mexico Gubernatorial debates and race coverage. Click here for other excerpts from 2014 New Mexico Gubernatorial debates and race coverage. Click here for other excerpts by Gary King. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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Page last updated: Dec 06, 2018