SANTA FE, NM (By Alexander Burns, Politico)  August 27, 2010 — The Democratic Governors Association is going on the air in New Mexico with an aggressive ad campaign branding Republican Susana Martinez as a career politician tarnished by “another political scandal.” The DGA ad opens with images of Martinez and a bipartisan rogues’ gallery that includes Tom DeLay, David Vitter, Eric Massa and Rod Blagojevich – as the narrator blames Martinez for spending “$350,000 dollars of taxpayer money … on special bonuses for insiders.” “Republican politician Susana Martinez was caught,” the ad announces. “Martinez, a local prosecutor, should have used the money to protect our borders. But newspapers caught her giving big bonuses to friends in her office – bonuses nearly three times higher than any other district.”

It’s a statewide buy clearly aimed at undermining the Dona Ana County DA’s reformist credentials. The Republican is locked in a close race with Democratic Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, whom Martinez has attacked for her involvement in the unpopular Bill Richardson administration. The DGA commercial closes with a line aimed squarely at Martinez’s credibility: “Republican politician Susana Martinez – can you believe her?”