Walter Martinez, Sr.
| Walter K. Martinez | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
16 November 1930 Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, USA |
| Died | 11 May 1986 (aged 55) Grants, New Mexico, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Lawyer and politician |
| Known for | Ouster in bipartisan coup |
Walter Kenneth Martinez, Sr. (16 November 1930 – 11 May 1986) was an American lawyer who was a member of the House of Representatives of the state of New Mexico for many years. He was a liberal member of the Democratic Party from a Hispanic background. He was speaker of the House for eight years before being removed from that position in 1979 in an unusual bipartisan coup when conservative Democrats allied with Republicans to elect a conservative Democrat as speaker.
Martinez was born in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, one of eleven children in poor but well-educated family. He studied law at the University of New Mexico and graduated in 1955. He became a general legal practitioner with the firm of Tibo Chavez and Boucher and set up office in Grants, New Mexico. At this time the area was booming due to the recently discovered uranium deposits. Martinez married Dolores Nolasco. They had three children, a girl and two boys, all of whom became lawyers. His daughter became a district judge. Martinez became a member of the Grants Board of Education.
In 1966 Martinez was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives on the Democrat platform to represent Valencia County, New Mexico. He served in the House for eighteen years. He was a liberal Democrat. Until 1971 the House had been dominated by conservative Democrats, mostly from the south and east of New Mexico. That had begun to change after the Supreme Court "one man, one vote" decision in Baker v. Carr (1962), which forced electoral districts to be more balanced in size and led to growing numbers of liberal Hispanic and urban intellectual representatives. In 1971, when Martinez was in his first term, the position of speaker came open. After a tie on the first vote, Martinez was elected speaker by a one-vote margin.
For eight years Martinez was one of the leaders of the liberal "Mama Lucy Gang", which controlled the house and prevented conservative "Cowboy Democrats" from the ranching areas in the south of the state from controlling the main committees. Another leader was Raymond G. Sanchez. Martinez's achievements included equalizing school district funding across the state and developing New Mexico's severance tax permanent fund. The fund aims to smooth out state revenues which would otherwise fluctuate based on demand for mining products.
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