New Mexico Governor, Susana Martinez, who is the first female Hispanic governor in the U.S. and the first female governor of New Mexico, is among the chosen speakers at this year’s Republican National Convention.

Three women are among the first seven announced speakers that include Condoleezza Rice, Nikki Haley, Susana Martinez, John McCain, Rick Scott, Mike Huckabee and John Kasich. These three women are expected to boost Rooney’s profile for the female vote. Polls have shown that President Obama is currently ahead of Romney when it comes to appealing to the American woman.

Both Martinez and Nikki Haley, who is Indian-American, are expected to help Romney with minorities, who now majorly support Barack Obama.

Something that may surprise many is that none of Romney’s top considerations for the vice-president post–Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio or Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey–are among the seven headline speakers. This will keep his vice-president nomination a mystery, at least until the eve of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

The Republicans have only announced the speakers mentioned so far. They are holding back with the rest, including the keynote speaker — an honor that could catapult a rising member of the party to national prominence.

Susana Martinez could help Romney with the Hispanic segments of women and according to Fox, “she can also address voters who feel securing the nation’s Southern border is a top concern.” New Mexico was won by Obama in the 2008 election with 56.7% of the votes, but Martinez’ popularity in the state might give Romney a slight advantage in this year’s race.

The Democrats also know the importance of the Hispanic vote in this election, so they have chosen Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, for their keynote speaker at the Democrat National Convention in Charlotte on September 4. Both Martinez and Castro will try to help their respective parties gain the support of Hispanic voters.

Susana Martinez’ background is very humble; she comes from a middle class working family, and her parents started a security business with almost no money in their pockets. Susana herself worked as a security guard while attending college. Governor Martinez obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma.

Martinez’s official website explains that “she was elected on November 2, 2010, pledging to cut wasteful spending, lower taxes to create more jobs, end ‘pay-to-play’ practices and other corruption in government and fight to reform education.”

Susana Martinez has expressed the importance of the Republican National Convention for achieving victory in the November elections: “The Republican National Convention will give Mitt Romney momentum for securing a critical victory for our country this fall. Americans want to work. They want to build their businesses, compete and succeed in order to create more jobs and a secure future for their families.

Mitt Romney knows that is the formula for our economic growth – not more government roadblocks. We will share this message in Tampa in a few weeks, and the American voters will make their voices heard on this at the polls in November.”

Image Courtesy of  Albuquerque Public Schools

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About the author

Gerardo Jose Torres Montalvo
Student of Philosophy and Journalism in Universidad de Navarra, Spain. Interested in world politics, especially in Latin American issue and in political philosophy. I was born in the United States, but raised in El Salvador.