For Immediate Release
Contact: Pahl Shipley
505.982.2291 | [email protected]
January 21, 2007
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Announces Presidential Campaign Exploratory Committee
Richardson has unparalleled experience and proven record of success as a Congressman, UN Ambassador, Energy Secretary, and Governor
SANTA FE, NM--New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today announced the formation of a Presidential campaign exploratory committee, with the clear intention of seeking the Democratic nomination for President in 2008.
"I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that's been done to our country over the last six years," said Richardson. "Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished."
"The next president of the United States must get our troops out of Iraq without delay. Before I became Governor of New Mexico, I served as Ambassador to the United Nations and as Secretary of Energy. I know the Middle East well and it's clear that our presence in Iraq isn't helping any longer," said Richardson.
"Our next President must be able to bring a country together that is divided and partisan," said Richardson. "It is clear that Washington is broken and it's going to take a return to bipartisanship and simple respect for each other's views to get it fixed. Most public policy solutions these days are coming from Governors and state government. On issues like the environment, jobs, and health care, state governments are leading the way. And that's because we can't be partisan or we won't get our jobs done. That's a lesson I've learned as Governor and that's what I'll do as President."
When New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson speaks about embracing diversity, the American dream, and public service, he speaks from unparalleled experience. Born November 15, 1947 in Pasadena, California to an American father and Mexican mother, Governor Richardson grew up in Mexico City before moving to New England, where he attended high school and college. He has dedicated his life to public service, as a United States Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of Energy, and now as Governor of New Mexico.
This past November, Richardson won re-election to his second term as Governor of New Mexico with a resounding 69% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in state history. He was supported by Democrats, Republicans and Independents, winning in both urban and rural counties. New Mexicans overwhelmingly endorsed Governor Richardson's aggressive efforts to improve education, cut taxes, build a high-wage economy, expand health care access, invest in renewable energy and make New Mexico safer.
Bill Richardson's fiscally responsible governing style has allowed New Mexico to tackle important priorities, while maintaining a balanced budget and the highest reserves in state history. He cut $230 million in bureaucratic waste, invested in new opportunities for New Mexico's children and returned more than $1 billion dollars in taxes to working families. His innovative policies have turned New Mexico's economy around, with 84,000 new jobs, rising personal income and a growing high tech sector that includes manufacturing, aviation, and renewable energy.
As Secretary of Energy to President Bill Clinton, Bill Richardson implemented tough efficiency standards to save energy. And as Governor, he has made New Mexico the Clean Energy State by requiring utility companies to produce energy through renewable resources and reduce carbon emissions.
Before becoming Governor, Bill Richardson served in Congress for 15 years and helped President Clinton pass the economic plan that created millions of jobs and led America to its first balanced budget in 30 years.
Appointed by President Clinton as the Ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson worked with world leaders to build alliances and help prevent the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea. Bill Richardson has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the release of hostages, American servicemen and political prisoners in North Korea, Iraq, and Cuba. Governor Richardson recently negotiated a 60-day cease fire in war-torn Darfur following direct talks with rebel leaders and the President of Sudan.
As Chairman of the Democratic Governor's Association, Governor Richardson raised more than $28 million for gubernatorial candidates and helped elect the first Democratic majority of governors since 1994. Governor Richardson also served as Chair of the Western Governors Association, Border Governor's Conference and the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Bill Richardson has been married to his high school sweetheart, Barbara, for 33 years. Richardson received a BA from Tufts in 1970 and a MA from Tuft's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971.
The Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee will be headquartered in New Mexico. Key staff will include:
Dave Contarino: Contarino ran Richardson's first campaign for Governor, served as his Chief of Staff for 3 years and most recently was the Chair of his re-election campaign.
Amanda Cooper: Cooper was Richardson's re-election Campaign Manager and Fundraising Director. Cooper oversaw raising $14 million for the Governor's re-election campaign and led the effort to raise $28 million for the DGA in Governor Richardson's two year term as Chair.
Pahl Shipley: Shipley was most recently the Communications Director and Chief Spokesperson in the Office of Governor Bill Richardson. Shipley is a 25-year award-winning veteran of television news and prior to working for Richardson, he served as the News Director at KOAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Colleen Turrentine: Turrentine served as the national fundraising director for the Democratic Leadership Council. Before that, she worked for the 2004 Joe Lieberman presidential campaign.
Richardson's Senior Advisors will include:
Steve Murphy: Murphy is a founding partner of Murphy Putnam Media, a premiere Washington media consulting firm. Murphy was Dick Gephardt's National Campaign Manager in 2003-2004 and managed his Iowa caucus campaign in 1988.
Mike Stratton: Stratton has served in numerous senior roles in several Democratic Presidential Campaigns and has served as a long-time Senior Political Advisor to Richardson.
Mark Putnam: Putnam, a founding partner of Murphy Putnam media, has been a media consultant and campaign strategist for over two decades. He's written, directed, and produced over 1,000 commercials for campaigns in 46 states, including helping elect five Governors, six U.S. Senators, and dozens of members of the U.S. House.
Jeff Eller: Eller is the CEO of Public Strategies in Austin, and a veteran of the Clinton 1992 Campaign and the White House.
Jennifer Yocham Poersch: Yocham Poersch, a former deputy finance director for the 2004 Lieberman campaign, will work with Cooper on national fundraising. Poersch worked for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, including a stint as senior adviser to committee chairwoman, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington
Joe Velasquez: Velasquez is Richardson's advisor on Labor and Political Affairs. Velasquez was the Head of the Department of Community Service for the AFL-CIO. Additionally, he was a former member of the DNC staff and a Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President Bill Clinton.
Calvin Humphrey: Humphrey has worked with Richardson for many years as his Foreign Policy Advisor, traveling to Iraq and most recently, Sudan on hostage rescue and other missions. Humphrey served as the Democratic Staff Director, Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives and previously was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of International Affairs.
Andre Pineda: Pineda is the Founder and President of Pineda Consulting, a California-based, Latino-owned firm specializing in political polling and strategic communications. Pineda has over 15 years of experience working for some of the biggest names in the political consulting business - Peter Hart, Geoff Garin, Fred Yang, Rich Schlackman, and Stan Greenberg.
Suzanne Cole Nowers: Nowers is the CEO of Nexus Direct, a top direct marketing firm, who worked for Richardson's re-election and whose clients include the DSCC to coordinate our direct mail fundraising.
To view Governor Bill Richardson's video statement in both English and Spanish please go to: www.richardsonforpresident.com
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Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee | On The Issues | On The Issues
Iraq
Our next President must be able to get us out of Iraq -- I think that it's obvious George Bush is too stubborn to face the reality that our presence in Iraq isn't helping any longer. I've served as our Ambassador to the UN, President Clinton's Special Envoy, and as Secretary of Energy. I know this region well, I've been there, I even met with Saddam Hussein and secured the release of hostages. And I know what has to be done. We need to be frank with the Iraqis that we've done our part and it's time for them to take over responsibility for their own security. We should take the lead in facilitating national reconciliation and bringing in other countries from the region to do their part, and we need to get real about helping rebuild Iraq and creating jobs for the 40 percent who are out of work. Assuming George Bush doesn't do that, and I think that's a safe assumption, I believe with my foreign policy and diplomatic experience and willingness to state a clear, unequivocal policy I'm the best candidate to get it done. And I'm confident I can make that point in the campaign.
National Security/Foreign Policy
Our next President must be able to restore our standing in the world and I believe I'm the best candidate to do that as well. As someone who has successfully negotiated with some of the world's toughest tyrants, I know face-to-face diplomacy can work. To become a respected international leader again, we need a national security policy that is tough and smart, a military second to none, a firm commitment to building diplomatic alliances, we need to defeat terrorism, and that's our number one national security challenge, we need to promote freedom, alleviate poverty, and stop global warming. The current administration has done none of those things and that means the next president must be able to get started in the first hundred days, again with a clear agenda and proven ability to get the job done.
Partisanship
Our next President must be able to bring a country together that is divided and partisan. That's the way I've operated as Governor and that's what I'll do as President. Frankly, I think Washington is broken and it's going to take a return to bipartisanship and simple respect for each other's views to get it fixed. All the public policy solutions these days are coming from Governors and state government -- on the environment, jobs and the economy, health care -- it's coming from the states. And that's because we can't be partisan or we won't get our jobs done. That's a lesson I've learned as Governor and that's what I would do as President. I just got re-elected with 69 percent of the vote-in a red state- and I got 40 percent of the Republican vote. I can bring people together to solve problems.
Environment/Energy
Our next President must be able to start reversing Global Warming and making real progress on energy independence and that means making a real commitment to renewable sources of energy. That's what I've done in New Mexico where we're requiring that 10 percent of all energy come from renewable sources and we're moving toward 20 percent, we've provided incentives for solar, wind, biofuels and other renewables, and again that's what I'll do as President. As Energy Secretary I implemented tough efficiency standards that have saved consumers billions in energy costs. Everybody talks the talk on these issues -- I've done it.
Jobs/Economy
Our next President must be able to make our economy work for the middle class and start creating good paying jobs again. In New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the nation, we've created 84,000 new jobs, many of them high tech jobs in industries like renewable energy, aerospace, and communications. We've done that with innovative approaches like a tax credit for companies who create good paying jobs, tax incentives for start up high tech businesses, and targeting job creation in rural areas. We've done it by making a real investment in public education, paying our teachers more but tying those increases to tough standards, and by using our resources more wisely, with less money for school administration and more in the classroom. And we did it with tax cuts, the right tax cuts, and with a balanced budget. Getting back to a balanced budget is a big part of sustained economic growth, too, the kind of growth that creates good jobs and actually reduces poverty. And that's what I'll do as President. We need to work with business, that's where the jobs are created after all, instead of engaging in ideological warfare, and we need the right kind of tax incentives, not just tax cuts for the wealthy and income transfers from the middle class to big corporations.
Healthcare
We must work to provide health insurance and access to quality, affordable health care, for all Americans and frankly we'd save a lot of money by doing it. We're spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year paying the costs of health care for the uninsured. In New Mexico, a poor state, we have faced huge health care challenges. However, we've extended health insurance to tens of thousands of New Mexicans -- kids, working families, and small businesses -- and we're working on a plan to cover every person. The bottom line is that people must have good coverage that works.
Immigration
As the California-born son of an American father and a Mexican mother, and as the Governor of a border state, I understand better than most the effects of immigration on our country -- legal and illegal. I declared a state of emergency on New Mexico's border to crack down on illegal activity and protect our citizens. I also believe we must pass comprehensive immigration reform to help secure our borders, protect our workers and our economy, and to be true to the ideals that have made this country great -- a country of immigrants.
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