Governor

TAMPA, Fla. -- The nation's first female Latino governor introduced herself on the national stage at the Republican convention to a largely responsive hall. Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico pitched the GOP brand as she told of growing up in a border town to become a prosecutor, district attorney and governor. "This is America," she said in English before flipping to Spanish. "Y en America todo es posible. " The first-term governor was given a a prime-time slot at the convention as the GOP struggles to boost its standing among Latino voters.

SACRAMENTO - Bill Lockyer should have been governor. He would have been good for California - and great for people in my line of work. The state treasurer - who announced Monday that he'll retire next year from elective office after four decades in Sacramento - has always been a politician who could deal and get things done. He's also candid and, especially earlier in his career, prone to shoot off his mouth. "I resent your mindless blather," Lockyer once told a female state senator, a fellow Democrat, while chairing a committee.

When we were classmates at Ingraham High School in Seattle, Jay Inslee was quarterback of the football team and a key player on the state champion basketball squad. I was a fledgling cartoonist and editorial writer on the student newspaper. On Wednesday afternoon, as I watched Inslee shoot hoops with his buddies under the new backboard he had just put up on his garage, it struck me that some things have not changed. It was still basketballs for him, cartoons for me. But, in truth, the change is rather dramatic.

SACRAMENTO - It seemed like a fairly good idea at the time - the idea of Abel Maldonado running for governor. He wasn't going to win. But neither would he be a Republican embarrassment. There was no Republican in sight with even a faint chance of beating Gov. Jerry Brown next year. Amend that. There was no credible challenger preparing to take on the Democratic incumbent, period. The moderate Maldonado, 45, from Santa Maria - a former mayor, legislator and lieutenant governor - seemed credible.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeking to conquer what could be the last budget crisis of his tenure, is engaged in a high-stakes negotiating strategy with lawmakers that could force him to preside over a meltdown of state government. As legislators have scrambled to stop the state from postponing payment of its bills and issuing IOUs starting next week, the governor has vowed to veto any measure that fails to close the state's entire $24-billion deficit.

PHOENIX - Lilia Romo will tell you plainly: She didn't ask for this fight, but now that the immigration war has been declared in this politically conservative state, the confident 24-year-old says she intends to win it. Romo was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by people her mother hired 20 years ago. All she recalls about the adventure is that the man who drove her illicitly across the border plied her and her two cousins with candy to keep them...

Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington announced Saturday that he would resign his seat in Congress so that he could focus on his campaign for governor. Inslee, a Democrat, has represented Washington's 1st District in Congress since 1999. He also served a single term representing the 4th District from 1993 to 1995. His resignation will take effect March 20. "I am not one for half-measures or halfhearted efforts," Inslee said in a statement from his campaign. "I am going to leave everything on the field.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants a five-year sequel to the state's popular film and television tax credit program. As part of a budget unveiled Tuesday, Cuomo proposed extending New York's $420-million annual tax credit program five more years. The budget also proposes reducing restrictions on claiming the state's post-production portion of the credit and additional reporting to "document the effectiveness of the credit in creating jobs," according to a statement from the governor's office.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went on the offensive Monday in the stalled state finance talks, releasing a television ad in which he vows to oppose any budget that raises taxes or "spends money we do not have." The governor's commercial comes at an awkward moment in negotiations over the state's projected $26.3-billion budget gap, as all sides described a weekend of closed-door talks among top lawmakers and Schwarzenegger as productive. Negotiations are set to continue today.