Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today remember the life of the late Bruce King in a speech on the Senate floor.  The text follows:

This week New Mexicans of all political persuasions have been recalling the life of a legendary figure in our state, Bruce King, who served as governor during three different decades and who taught by example that public service is an honorable calling. Governor King died last Friday at the age of 85.

Bruce used to tell the story about a former governor who was the speaker at his high school graduation who looked at the very small class of teenagers and said, "One of you could grow up to be governor of this state."  Bruce looked around at his other classmates and figured that the governor had to be speaking to him.  Sure enough, in the course of time, and after service in the Santa Fe County Commission, state legislature, and speaker of the House in New Mexico, he was elected governor.

He served as governor of our sate for 12 years, longer than anyone else in the history of New Mexico.  In all of those years he never failed to make the people of New Mexico his first priority.  With him at every step of the way from their family ranch in Stanley to Santa Fe and back again was the remarkable Alice Martin King, his wife.  She was a great force in her own right.  She was a champion for children in our state; she died last December.

My own history with Bruce King began when I was just out of law school.  I was serving then as an assistant attorney general in New Mexico and I was assigned the job of counsel to the Constitutional Convention, which our state had in 1969.  Bruce, who was then the speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives, was elected president of that convention.  I learned a great deal about the legislative process, about New Mexico history, and about our state in general as a result of the effort to work with Bruce in that important capacity.  His management of the process and the people involved with the convention was masterful.  He was always inclusive.  He was always listening.  And he was always working to get the best result.  In short, he was the model of a legislative manager.

I also recall being privileged to serve as attorney general during Bruce's second term as governor from 1979-1982.  We worked closely together on a number of issues and I was impressed all over again at his knowledge of New Mexico and his genuine love for its citizens.

He was gregarious and kind.  He never knew a stranger.  He shook every hand in our state, whether there was a voter attached to it or not.  People were delighted to see Bruce coming and to hear his famous reply when asked "How are you doing, governor?"  He would rely, "Mighty fine" regardless of the circumstances that the state and he were facing.

Our friendship extended for 40-plus years.  And along with my fellow New Mexicans, I will miss him greatly.  His sons Bill and Gary, his brothers Don and Sam, and the entire King family have lost tremendously. Every New Mexican feels this loss and joins his family in honoring his life.