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 New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. 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 Stanley is an unincorporated community in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. The ZIP code is 87056. Geography Climate Climate type occurs primarily on the periphery of the true deserts in low-latitude semiarid steppe regions. The Kö ...

. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. 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 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 New Mexico is a state in the South ...

. 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 Hung ...

. From 1968 to 1969, 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 governor, defeating Republican

Pete Domenici Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici ( ; May 7, 1932 – September 13, 2017) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six terms in ...

. 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 on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

. 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 and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

. After the

Church Rock uranium mill spill The Church Rock uranium mill spill occurred in the U.S. state of New Mexico on July 16, 1979, when United Nuclear Corporation's tailings disposal pond at its Uranium mining#Heap leaching, uranium mill in Church Rock, New Mexico, Church Rock breac ...

of 1979, King refused the Navajo Nation's request that the site be declared a

federal disaster area A disaster area is a region or a locale that has been heavily damaged by either natural, technological or social hazards. Disaster areas affect the population living in the community by a dramatic increase in expense, loss of energy, food and se ...

, limiting aid to affected residents. The spill was the largest release of radioactive material in U.S. history, having released more radioactivity than the

Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Londonderry T ...

four months earlier.

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 at ...

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 A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

that was implanted after he had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 1997. He died on November 13, 2009, in

, 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". ''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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Bruce 1924 births 2009 deaths 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 20th-century members of the New Mexico Legislature