Former New Mexico governor remembered as Hispanic role model

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Former New Mexico Gov. Jerry Apodaca, who reorganized the state’s government into a cabinet-based system in the mid-1970s, has died. He was 88. His family said he died at his home in Santa Fe on Wednesday after what may have been a stroke. The Democrat became the state’s first Hispanic governor in more than a half-century in 1975. He is being remembered for paving the way for more Latinos to enter public office. He also was appointed by former President Jimmy Carter to head the Council on Physical Fitness. In his later years, he tried to mount a political return but runs for governor and the Senate fell short.