Ida Jo Cargo (1970)

Please join us for a special Friday Christmas blog tomorrow and help us place under the blogging tree our presents for the politicos. Now on to today's entry.

Our Wednesday photo contest stumped quite a few readers but a number of them were right on the mark and accurately named the striking photo as that of Ida Jo Cargo, New Mexico's first lady from 1967-70. She was married to Republican Governor David Cargo.

Ida Jo was a feisty and independent woman in an era when political wives were expected to be more servile. As NM Deputy Historian Rob Martinez remarked in "Lonesome Dave and the Tiger of the North" for the fall 2018 NM Historical Review:

(Cargo) seems to blame her for some of the episodes that presented challenges in his political life. (To him) Ida Jo appeared to lack the discipline, sacrifice, subordination, and silence required of the traditional politician's wife.

She was only 25 when she became first lady, the youngest in state history. The mother of five, she was the only first lady to give birth while in office. She met Cargo in 1960 when he was a partner in an ABQ law firm and where she worked as a legal assistant. Six months later they were married.

She was born into a prominent Belen family and Belen reader Jose Campos wrote of her photo:

Joe, she was often described as the "Jackie Kennedy of New Mexico." (Former NM House Speaker) Raymond Sanchez remembers Cargo hanging out at Gil's Bakery in Belen (owned by Raymond's father) to see his future bride. What took her popularity down with the public was when Reis Lopez Tijerana's list of Alianza members came out and she was on it.

Ida Jo (1968)

The Alianza was a group that sought "to organize and acquaint the heirs of all Spanish land-grants covered by the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty" with their rights.

The Alianza staged the historic raid on the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse in Rio Arriba County in 1967. When a list of dues paying members was discovered by law enforcement Ida Jo's name was on it. She was soon portrayed as a wild-eyed revolutionary while her Governor husband continued to deal with the thorny problems presented by the Alianza and Tijerana, the "Tiger of the North."

Gov. Cargo later told friends she signed up for the Alianza only to get rid of the person soliciting paid memberships, not because she was an adherent of the group.

Historian Martinez and I looked up the church records of Ida Jo from Belen and found her given name was Josefina Adelaida Anaya.

As first lady she opened the Governor's mansion to the public each Friday, continued her education at the College of Santa Fe and not surprisingly was often in demand as a model. NM political junkie Patrick Killen adds:

Joe, she was also known as the “Hispanic Jackie Kennedy.” Hailing from Belen, Ida Jo was credited with bolstering Cargo’s crossover appeal to Hispanic Democratic voters and crucial to his subsequent election as Governor in 1966 and re-election in 1968. 

Today's photo of her wearing a pillbox hat certainly conjures up memories of Jackie.

Reader Jim Maddox adds:

Ida Jo no doubt was a big part of Dave Cargo being elected Governor. Campaigning in Northern New Mexico with his wife in a pickup truck was simple and masterful.

Ida Jo and Cargo divorced in 1985. He passed away at 84 in 2013. She died in Midland TX. in 1996 from cancer at 55.

Ida Jo Cargo earned her chapter in the never ending book of La Politica as a history making first lady and an independent spirit who was of her time but also ahead of it in important ways.

Thanks to all who entered the contest. The winner of the Christmas Lunch is James Cooke of ABQ.

ABOUT THE PHOTOS

The contest picture was taken by veteran NM photographer Mark Bralley who tells us he shot it at a 1970 Santa Fe meeting of Republican Governors and their wives.

The picture with Ida Jo in sunglasses was taken by Bralley in 1968 at ABQ's Roosevelt Park where Cargo was campaigning for the GOP gubernatorial nomination that year. Good stuff, Mark.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018