Nisha Rathode (Editor)

Jerry Apodaca

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Lieutenant
  
Robert E. Ferguson

Profession
  
Insurance Businessman

Party
  
Democratic Party

Preceded by
  
Bruce King

Religion
  
Catholic

Succeeded by
  
Bruce King

Political party
  
Democratic

Name
  
Jerry Apodaca

Resigned
  
January 1, 1979

Spouse(s)
  
Clara Apodaca


Jerry Apodaca

Born
  
October 3, 1934 (age 90) Las Cruces, New Mexico (
1934-10-03
)

Role
  
Former Governor of New Mexico

Previous office
  
Governor of New Mexico (1975–1979)

Education
  
University of New Mexico

Jerry apodaca governor new mexico val de la o show


Raymond S. "Jerry" Apodaca (born October 3, 1934) served as the 24th Governor of New Mexico.

Contents

Personal life

Apodaca graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1956 with a bachelor of science degree, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Apodaca would later enter the insurance business.

Politics

In 1965, he was elected to the New Mexico Senate, in which he served for four two-year terms from 1966 to 1974. Apodaca was elected governor of New Mexico as a Democrat in 1974, becoming the first Hispanic governor in the U.S. since 1918, along with neighboring Arizona Governor Raúl Héctor Castro, who was also elected that year. Apodaca narrowly defeated his Republican opponent, Joe Skeen, later a long-term member of the United States House of Representatives from New Mexico. In the campaign, Jimmy Carter, the outgoing governor of Georgia, came to New Mexico to campaign for Apodaca. There Carter met Timothy Kraft, then the executive director of the New Mexico Democratic Party who in 1975 joined the Carter presidential campaign, worked in the Carter administration, and was the 1980 Carter campaign manager.

Post–governor

Apodaca reorganized the New Mexico state government to create a cabinet system with twelve departments. He consolidated agencies and abolished several boards and commissions. He also increased numerous taxes during his tenure. In 1978, President Carter appointed Apodaca, who was constitutionally ineligible to seek reelection as governor, as the chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness. After his term as governor, Apodaca became involved in publishing Hispanic-audience periodicals. He was a member of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents from 1985 to 1991.

Legacy

In 2004, the headquarters building of the New Mexico Department of Education was renamed for Apodaca.

One of the centers of the Ben Luján Leadership and Public Policy Institute is now called the Jerry Apodaca Public Policy Center.

References

Jerry Apodaca Wikipedia


Similar Topics