New Mexico Governor Candidates Susana Martinez and Gary King Butt Heads Over Having 'A Latino Heart' [Video]
New Mexico Attorney General Gary King is being criticized about remarks he made about Gov. Susana Martinez.
On Saturday, King, who is running against Martinez as the Democratic Party candidate, attended a private fundraiser where he made some questionable comments that made their way onto YouTube.
"And the last thing she said, and the last thing I'll say is, you can't go out there and just vote for somebody for governor because they have a Latino surname," King is shown saying in the video. "She said: 'You have to look at them and find out if they have a Latino heart.' And we know that Susana Martinez does not have a Latino heart."
The comment has upset the Republican Governors Association, who is demanding that King apologize to the Republican.
"Gary King should consider the impact of his insensitive comments on the Hispanic community and immediately apologize," the association said in a statement according to Fox News Latino. "No matter how much his campaign is struggling, it is reprehensible that he would stoop so low to this kind of personal attack."
According to Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, King also owes an apology to the entire Hispanic community.
"He's assuming the Hispanics are a monolithic community committed to the big government agenda," Aguilar told FNL. "To make that kind of a generalization is insulting. It's treating Hispanics as a herd and not as thinking individuals."
Martinez won the 2010 gubernatorial race with support from 40 percent of Hispanic voters, Albuquerque Journal, reports. She grew up in El Paso, Texas and speaks Spanish.
"I'm not sure what Gary King meant by what he said, so I'm not going to accuse him of racism," Martinez said in a statement. "We certainly have different views on the issues, but I know what's in my heart and I won't question what's in his."
King told the newspaper that he meant that Martinez does not share the same political views of most Hispanics in the state.
"I think it points out in an important way that Gov. Martinez does not share the same value system as most New Mexico Hispanic families do, such as increasing the minimum wage and supporting our professional educators in the teaching of our children," he said in a statement.
On Tuesday, King's campaign released a longer clip from Saturday. After his statement, King goes on to say "I have a New Mexico heart, and I care about each and every one of you."
Watch King make his controversial comment below:
Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.
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