Bruce King (April 6, 1924 – November 13, 2009) was an American businessman and politician who for three non-consecutive four-year terms was the governor of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the longest-serving governor in New Mexico history, with 12 years of service.

Early life, education, and early political career

King was born on April 6, 1924 in Stanley, New Mexico. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the war, he attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

. King's career in politics began when he was elected to the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners in 1954. He was re-elected and served as the chairman of the board during his second term. In 1959, he was elected to the

New Mexico House of Representatives ) is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature. There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , ...

. He served five consecutive terms in the House and during three of his terms he was

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

. From 1968-69, King was chairman of the state Democratic Party. In 1969, he was also the president of the State Constitutional Convention.

Governor of New Mexico

1990 New Mexico gubernatorial election results map by county

In 1970, King was elected as governor, defeating Republican Pete Domenici. He served as the 23rd, 25th and 28th Governor of New Mexico from 1971 until 1975, 1979 until 1983 and from 1991 until 1995. His terms were non-consecutive because the New Mexico constitution did not allow governors to succeed themselves before 1991, due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

. King became the first governor who could succeed himself after the term limit laws were changed and ran for reelection in 1994, but was defeated for a fourth term by Republican businessman

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

Personal life

King was married to his wife Alice for 61 years until her death on December 7, 2008. Their son Gary King served as

New Mexico Attorney General The Attorney General of New Mexico, an elected executive officer of the state, oversees the New Mexico Attorney General's Office and serves as head of the New Mexico Department of Justice. The officeholder, who is required to be a licensed attor ...

from 2007 to 2015 and was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014. King was recovering from a procedure in September 2009 to adjust the

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart ei ...

that was implanted after he had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1997. He died on November 13, 2009 in Stanley, New Mexico, at the age of 85.

Bibliography

*Becknell, Charles Sr. (2003) "No Challenge, No Change: Growing Up Black in New Mexico" Jubilee Publications. *Colvin, Mark (1982). "The 1980 New Mexico Prison Riot." ''Social Problems'' 29. *Colvin, Mark (1992). "The Penitentiary in Crisis:From Accommodation to Riot in New Mexico'', State University of New York Press. *King, Bruce (1998). ''Cowboy in the Roundhouse: A Political Life''. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press. *McCaffery, Fred (February 14, 1979). "Political Game Snares Becknell" ''New Mexican Opinion'' *"New Report Describes Events Surrounding New Mexico Prison Riot". (June 8, 1980). ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Bruce 1924 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American politicians United States Army personnel of World War II County commissioners in New Mexico Democratic Party governors of New Mexico Military personnel from New Mexico People from Stanley, New Mexico Speakers of the New Mexico House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the New Mexico House of Representatives State political party chairs of New Mexico University of New Mexico alumni