SANTA FE – House Majority Whip Sheryl Williams Stapleton apologized publicly Thursday for referring to Gov. Susana Martinez as “the Mexican on the fourth floor” during a confrontation with a Republican legislator a day earlier.
“I’m sorry for the hurtful words that were said,” an emotional Stapleton told reporters during a news conference at the Capitol. “Honestly, I am sorry.”
“I am publicly making an apology to the governor of the state of New Mexico, I am publicly making an apology to my district and I am publicly making an apology to the people of New Mexico as an elected official,” she said.
She said she has already written a letter to the Governor’s Office and plans to ask for a personal meeting with Martinez.
However, the nine-term Democratic legislator, the first black woman elected to the New Mexico Legislature, said she would not heed calls from the state Republican Party to resign from the leadership post she was elected to by House Democrats.
Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, called a news conference at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on Thursday to apologize for referring to Gov. Susana Martinez as the “Mexican on the fourth floor.” (RICHARD PIPES/JOURNAL)
Martinez, whose spokesman had called the comments “sad and disappointing,” responded to the apology late Thursday, saying she would welcome the opportunity to meet with Stapleton.
“In New Mexico, we pride ourselves on our diversity and on our ability to be proud of our unique heritage, while remaining united as New Mexicans,” Martinez said. “I’m pleased that Rep. Stapleton apologized to New Mexicans, because the people of our state are the ones that deserve the apology.
“We must never allow ourselves to become divided, and that’s why I welcome the opportunity to meet with her, as I have in the past and will continue to do in the future. We must work together to improve and better the lives of New Mexico’s children and families because what we do as elected officials is not about us, but rather the people we represent.”
Winston Brooks, superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools, where Stapleton is coordinator of vocational administration, said that he was glad Stapleton apologized but that the incident still would be reviewed.
“I think that for one of my administrators to make that comment, which in my opinion is so culturally insensitive, that can’t be tolerated,” Brooks said.
Brooks also posted a letter to the APS website, addressing all district employees about serving as role models.
“Of all the expectations of you as an employee – respect for others is at the top of the list,” the letter said in part. “Please, remember that as a public school employee people look at you as a representative of the district and hold you to a higher standard.”
Stapleton made the controversial remark Wednesday to Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, during a lunch break of the Legislative Education Study Committee, which was meeting on the Third Floor of the Capitol.
The exchange was prompted by Espinoza’s comments during a recent television interview about possible corruption at APS and Stapleton being paid for her administrative job at APS while lawmaking in Santa Fe, Stapleton said. Espinoza said Wednesday that she never mentioned Stapleton by name.
“You’re carrying the water for the Mexican on the fourth floor,” Espinoza quoted Stapleton as telling her, apparently accusing her of being a political lackey for the Republican governor, whose office is located on the fourth floor of the Capitol. Stapleton’s remark was confirmed by another legislator who witnessed the confrontation.
Stapleton said Thursday that she felt she had been “baited” into the comments by Republicans, several of whom have criticized Stapleton for violating APS policy by not taking unpaid leave during legislative sessions. The policy was changed to allow for paid leave after KRQE-TV’s Larry Barker reported on the practice.
After she arrived at Wednesday’s committee hearing, Stapleton – who is an advisory member of the committee – said she became upset and “lost it” after a GOP legislator asked her why she wasn’t at work at APS.
“I have been under personal attack for the last two months by the Republican Party,” Stapleton told the news conference Thursday.
Stapleton, as she did in a Journal interview on Wednesday, insisted that her reference to the governor was not intended to be derogatory.
“In a moment of heated exchange, I said words that people think are harmful,” Stapleton said. “I didn’t think the word ‘Mexican’ was a racial slur. I thought of it in terms of a person being of Mexican descent.”
Referring to someone as a “Mexican” in New Mexico – where many residents pride themselves on their Spanish ancestry – has long been widely considered to be an ethnic slur.
Martinez, whose ancestors on both sides of her family hail from Mexico, was born and raised in El Paso. She became the nation’s first elected Latina governor with her victory in the governor’s race last year.
Earlier Thursday, the Republican Party of New Mexico called on Stapleton to apologize to both Martinez and Espinoza and resign her leadership position.
“That kind of behavior is beyond the pale and has no place in the New Mexico House of Representatives,” state party Chairman Monty Newman said.
Journal staff writer Hailey Heinz contributed to this report.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
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