Diane Denish

Born:March 7, 1949 (age 75)
Career:Lieutenant governor of New Mexico, 2003-2011
State:NM
Party:Democratic
Education:B.A., University of New Mexico

Diane Denish served as New Mexico's lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2011, the first woman to hold that position in New Mexico.

Denish was born March 7, 1949, in Hobbs, New Mexico, and received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Mexico in 1971. Prior to serving as lieutenant governor, Denish served as a member of the Board of Regents at New Mexico Tech University, as a chair of the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women and as a member of the National Advisory Board of the Small Business Administration under President Bill Clinton.

As lieutenant governor, Denish helped create an innovative micro-lending program through New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation and helped with adoption of higher minimum wage standards and more efficiently managed unemployment benefits. She also led the effort to expand pre-kindergarten programs across the state of New Mexico and focus state agencies on preparing New Mexico's future workforce.

Denish was the Democratic nominee for governor of New Mexico in 2010, losing in the general election to Susana Martinez.

Sources:

Ballotpedia (n.d.). “Diane Denish” Ballotpedia. Retrieved October 7, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/Diane_Denish.

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