I've always known that my father's father and grandfather and grandmother were from Mexico. I've never denied it. I've always said it.

As the first Hispanic female governor in history, little girls often come up to me in the grocery store or the mall. They look and point, and when they get the courage, they ask 'Are you Susana?' and they run up and give me a hug.

I went to law school. And I became a prosecutor. I took on a specialty that very few choose to pursue. I prosecuted child abuse and child homicide cases. Cases that were truly gut-wrenching. But standing up for those kids, being their voice for justice was the honor of a lifetime.

When I first registered to vote I registered as a Democrat.

In New Mexico, I inherited the largest structural deficit in state history, and our legislature is controlled by Democrats. We don't always agree, but we came together in a bipartisan manner and turned that deficit into a surplus. And we did it without raising taxes.

New Mexico is an environment where we are open for business.

I registered Democrat because my parents did. They were, we were. There was no thinking behind it.

Sometimes Republicans engage in number-crunching analysis that doesn't always take the neediest into account.

Success, they taught me, is built on the foundation of courage, hard-work and individual responsibility. Despite what some would have us believe, success is not built on resentment and fears.

The criminal justice system should have the authority to determine the immigration status of all criminals, regardless of race or ethnicity, and report illegal immigrants who commit crimes to federal authorities.

Too many Americans are out of work, and our debt is out of control.

We call on the Senate to reject any judicial nominee who does not affirm fundamental civil rights, including a woman's right [to obtain an abortion on demand]. The threat an [pro-life] judiciary poses to women's lives demands nothing less.

Growing up I never imagined a little girl from a border town could one day become a governor. But this is America. In America algo es possible.

My parents taught me to never give up and to always believe that my future could be whatever I dreamt it to be.