Friday, July 5, 2013

R.I.P. Former Gov. Cargo

David F. Cargo, who was governor of New Mexico from Jan. 1967 until the end of 1970, is dead.

Longtime friend and Albuquerque City Council Janice Arnold-Jones said Cargo died this morning at 5:15 a.m. He was 84.

Cargo, a Republican, was known as a moderate, or sometimes even a progressive Republican. He often was at odds with his own party, which helped earn him the nickname, “Lonesome Dave.”

Cargo for several months had been living in an Albuquerque nursing facility following a stroke.

Arnold-Jones frequently visited him in the home. "He was so frustrated," she said. "His brain was going 90 miles a minute but his body would not cooperate.

Services for Cargo are pending, she said.

More in tomorrow's New Mexican.

My review of Gov. Cargo's 2012 autobiography can be found HERE

UPDATE: The time of Cargo's death has been corrected.

Gov. Susana Martinez with Gov. Cargo in 2011