Quotes from Susana Martinez

I offered early on - I think I was governor about a month when I met President Obama - and said, 'I would like to visit with you in reference to border security, in reference to immigration. I'd like to be part of the discussion because I lived on the border all my life.' I've never received a call.

I went to law school. And I became a prosecutor. I took on a specialty that very few choose to pursue. I prosecuted child abuse and child homicide cases. Cases that were truly gut-wrenching. But standing up for those kids, being their voice for justice was the honor of a lifetime.

When I first registered to vote I registered as a Democrat.

Success is the American Dream. And that success is not something to be ashamed of, or to demonize.

I didn't suddenly become conservative. It was only the label that changed.

I am donating $10,000 from my inaugural committee to the 'Pink Pack' because the only way we will find a cure for cancer is by joining together, pooling our resources, and focusing on the lifesaving mission that everyone can fight back against cancer.

My dad was a golden gloves boxer in the Marine Corps, then a deputy sheriff. My mom worked as an office assistant.

Latinos care about education, yes, so we need reform, not just money.

Our laws are too lax, our justice system too weak - particularly when it comes to violent, dangerous offenders.

Criminals take advantage of weak laws, like giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

I don't want to be known as a politician.

It's extremely important that we elect people that look like the population they serve.

At 18, I guarded the parking lot at the Catholic Church bingos. Now, my dad made sure I could take care of myself. I carried a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum - that gun weighed more than I did!

We talked about many issues, like welfare, is it the way of life or hand up? Talked about size of government, how much should it tax families and small businesses? And when we left that lunch, we got in the car and I looked over at Chuck and said, 'I'll be damned. we're Republicans.'

I want to make sure kids read by the third grade and are prepared for the fourth grade. As school gets harder and kids get older, the words get bigger... If they don't understand what they are reading, they start to fall back, and their interest in school falls off.

I do think we do have to respect the position of the presidency.

My parents were Democrats.

The big corporations have a team of lawyers and accountants to help them. It's the small businesses, the mom and pop shops, that get lost in the layers of red tape.

Gangs have evolved. The stereotypical gang member covered in tattoos and wearing colors does not really exist any more. There's this fear that it could be any kid, but by any kid, that means any Latino kid.

Raising taxes does nothing to allow the economy to recover.

My parents taught me to never give up and to always believe that my future could be whatever I dreamt it to be.

We need to grow the private sector in every corner of New Mexico.

New Mexico should be a tech jobs leader and a haven for innovation, a place where the best and the brightest come to bring their products to market.

I have to deliver the results I promised because, as the first Hispanic female governor, I'm going to pave a path of some kind. I want it to be one that little Hispanic girls will want to follow.