Richardson on N.M. Lt. Governor: Her Day Will Come

By Garance Franke-Ruta
Members of President-elect Barack Obama's administration are not the only ones disappointed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's decision to withdraw his name as commerce secretary-designee. From Richardson's news conference this afternoon:

QUESTION: What was [New Mexico Lt. Gov.] Diane Denish's first reaction when you informed her yesterday?

RICHARDSON: We spoke yesterday morning. I gave her a briefing of what the president-elect was going to say, what I said.

We had been having conversations prior to that about, you know, a potential delay. She was disappointed, but she emphasized that she wanted us to work very closely together, as we always have been. And as I said, I think she's going to make a very fine governor some day.

New Mexico has had 26 different governors since becoming a state; Denish, the state's first female lieutenant governor, also would have been the first woman to hold that higher office.