VIDEO: Martinez Address Hints at Legislative Priorities

A call for progress over politics

At a ceremony at the state House of Representatives now controlled by Republicans for the first time in over 60 years, GOP Gov. Susana Martinez hinted her legislative priorities in an 18-minute inaugural speech in which she called for "politics over progress" in the next four years.

"It is certainly the case that Republicans had a good night on Election Night. But it would be a mistake for us to believe we were elected because voters wanted Republican politicians in office. That's not the message," she said. "History is littered with failed politicians who believed that voters wanted one party over the other, when instead, it's clear they wanted leaders who would put progress over politics. And it's charting a new course of history we should be focused on."

Republicans Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, Secretary of State Dianna Duran and Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn also took the oath of office at the ceremony overseen by Rep. Don Tripp, R-Socorro.

Education stood out as a main theme of the speech. Martinez mentioned "child" or "children" at least 20 times and said that after the Nov. 4 election, she met with teachers and principles  "to listen to their concerns about reforms."

"We met for three hours one night listening to one another and searching to find common ground," she said. Her

does not reflect the meeting, although the governor's office hasn't yet posted the chief executive's appointments for the entire month of December.

Some of Martinez' biggest political challenges during her first term stemmed from her administration's controversial education policies—retaining children in the third grade if they don't meet reading standards and teacher evaluations—

by nonprofits founded by Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. 

While invoking bipartisanship, the governor hinted that she won't back away from pursing a third-grade retention bill again this year in the upcoming 60-day legislative session. Previous versions of the bill failed to pass the Democratic legislative bodies during the governor's first term amid bitter fights over the issue. Now Republicans control the House by 37-33 as Democrats remain in power in the Senate.

"I will never send a message to a child that they can't succeed or that failure is OK," Martinez said. "Nothing dashes dreams more quickly than destroying hope in a child. And I will never accept the argument that kids who can't read should just be shuffled along, to struggle more and more as they get older, because intervening early and requiring them to read at grade level is uncomfortable for some adults."

The governor didn't give any harder hints on her economic priorities. "We deserve an economy that’s just as diverse," she said, "not one that is totally reliant on federal spending."

Here's the full-video 

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