Sue Wilson Beffort

In 2006, Wilson Beffort was the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor of New Mexico.{{cite news |last=Rubel |first=Walter |title=Beffort, Denish vie for lieutenant governor |url=http://www.daily-times.com/ci_4460982 |accessdate=June 10, 2013 |newspaper=The Farmington Daily Times |date=October 8, 2006}}{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Jay |title=It's Great to Be a Senator |url=http://insidethecapitol.blogspot.com/2006/02/2-20-its-great-to-be-senator.html |accessdate=June 10, 2013 |newspaper=Inside the Capitol |date=February 16, 2006}} She ran as the running mate of John Dendahl after the elected gubernatorial candidate for governor was replaced by the state party. On June 17, 2006, Dr. J.R. Damron, who won the primary election to become the Republican nominee for the gubernatorial election, was pressured into resigning as the Republican candidate for Governor of New Mexico by Republican Party chairman Allen Weh and former chairman John Dendahl .[http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/469886nm06-20-06.htm Damron Says Choice to Quit Was His]. Weh engaged in the effort against Damron because of supposed decreased name recognition. John Dendahl was appointed as the Republican candidate for Governor by Weh and the Republican party's Central Committee. Dendahl kept Wilson Beffort as his running mate. (Wilson Beffort had won the Republican primary in June 2006.) Dendahl and Wilson Beffort lost the election to Democrats Bill Richardson and Diane Denish.{{cite news |title=AmericaVotes 2006 State Races » New Mexico |url=https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006//pages/results/states/NM/index.html |accessdate=August 23, 2013 |newspaper=CNN.com |year=2007}}

In the January 2012 New Mexico Legislative session, Wilson Beffort angered dog lovers as well as the local humane society by proposing breed specific legislation (BSL). She advocated tightening the dangerous dog act by designating all pit bulls as dangerous dogs. The result of such legislation, if passed, would be that a dog could be killed as a suspect in a dog attack rather than requiring law enforcement to investigate whether or not the animal committed the attack, as the law currently read. Protests by concerned citizens, and ultimately by the Republican Governor (Susana Martinez) took the proposed legislation out of the realm of consideration.{{cite web |title=DANGEROUS DOG BILL |url=http://www.koat.com/DANGEROUS-DOG-BILL/-/9154444/9714728/-/stcty1z/-/index.html |work=Evening News for January 14, 2012 |publisher=KOAT Television News |accessdate=July 11, 2012}} In response to Wilfort Beffort's 2012 bill, during the 2013 Legislature, Representative Yvette Herrell, R-Alamogordo proposed House Bill 63 that sought to

prohibit municipalities and counties from enacting breed-specific regulations.{{cite web |last=Herrell |first=Yvette |title=House Bill 63 |url=https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/13%20regular/bills/house/HB0063.pdf |work=Governmental copy of proposed legislation |publisher=New Mexico Legislature |accessdate=June 9, 2013}}{{cite news |last=Grimm |first=Julie Ann |title=Herrell's bill prohibits banning dog breeds |url=http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_22382247/herrells-bill-prohibits-banning-dog-breeds |accessdate=June 9, 2013 |newspaper=Alamogordo Daily News |date=January 15, 2013}} The bill passed the state House, but later died in the Senate (where Wilson Beffort was still in office) when the bill ran out of time.{{cite news |last=Reichbach |first=Matthew |title=Bill banning breed-specific ordinancespasses House |url=http://www.nmtelegram.com/2013/02/18/bill-banning-breed-specific-legislation-passes-house/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221055228/http://www.nmtelegram.com/2013/02/18/bill-banning-breed-specific-legislation-passes-house/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |accessdate=June 9, 2013 |newspaper=New Mexico Telegram |date=February 18, 2013}}{{cite web |last=Legislative Council Service Staff |title=2013 Regular Session HB 63 NO BREED-SPECIFIC LOCAL GOV'T DOG REGULATIONS |url=http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?chamber=H&legtype=B&legno=%20%2063&year=13 |work=Government Summary of Legislation |publisher=New Mexico Legislature |accessdate=June 9, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.apvnm.org/news_updates/2013/session_wrapup.php |publisher=Animal Protection Voters |accessdate=March 27, 2013|title=Newsroom }}

In March 2012, the New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran considered cutting Wilson Beffort's name from the election ballot, because Wilson Beffort's nominating forms were completed incorrectly.{{cite web |last=Boyd |first=Dan |title=7 May Be Cut From Ballot |url=http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/03/24/news/7-may-be-cut-from-ballot.html |work=Albuquerque Journal North |publisher=Albuquerque Journal |accessdate=July 11, 2012}} By March 26, 2012, Duran allowed Wilson Beffort to remain on the ballot, along with seven others who had errors on their applications to run for office.{{cite news |last=Kolewski |first=M.I. |title=Secretary of State OK's candidates despite their mistaken forms; Garcia says he'll go to court UPDATE: "The rules were clear," Garcia says |url=http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/03/24/news/7-may-be-cut-from-ballot.html |accessdate=July 11, 2012 |newspaper=Capitol Report New Mexico}} A subsequent lawsuit by Rep. Thomas Garcia (D-Ocaté) was lost, so Wilson Beffort was allowed to remain on the ballot. She ran unopposed in the June 5, 2012 Republican primary. No Democratic candidates filed to run in the general election of November 6, 2012.

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislator_details.aspx?SPONCODE=SBEFF Senator Sue Wilson Beffort – (R)] at New Mexico Legislature
• [http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/10322/sue-wilson-beffort Biography: Sue Wilson Beffort] at Project Vote Smart

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Category:1946 births

Category:Living people

Category:Thomas Edison State University alumni

Category:Politicians from Albuquerque, New Mexico

Category:Southern Methodist University alumni

Category:Republican Party New Mexico state senators

Category:Women state legislators in New Mexico

Category:21st-century members of the New Mexico Legislature

Category:21st-century American women politicians