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In the gubernatorial election of 2000, Martz defeated her Democratic opponent, Mark O'Keefe , by a margin of 51 percent to 48 percent.
Within weeks of taking office Martz declared she would proudly "serve as the lapdog of industry." Several weeks later she told the attendees of a women's conference that she had never been abused by her husband, because, "I’ve never given him any reason to hit me either." More seriously, Martz took fire in the media after a fatal drunk driving accident that killed House Majority Leader Paul Sliter . Martz's most trusted aide, Shane Hedges, was the driver, and was charged with negligent homicide. That night Hedges, whom Martz claimed was a friend for life, went to the governor's mansion where Martz allowed him to stay and even washed his bloody clothing (she said it was a "motherly reaction"). Bad press over her shifting stories and various personal scandals policies involving land deals as well as using the phones in her official office to raise money for the state GOP's Political Action Committee (which she ran at the time) took their toll—by 2003 her approval ratings were in the 20% range, some of the lowest ever for any governor in the history of Montana. Martz saw the writing on the wall and announced well before 2004 that she would not run for a second term (in spite of that, many blame her for the relatively strong performance of Democrats on a statewide level that year). On a lighter note, more recently Martz made it into the news, through no action of her own, because of a supposed similarity to the face and hair of one nude bordello dancer sculpted by Seattle artist Kristine Veith, and placed in a new development in downtown HelenaHelena can refer to: Saint Helena (Island in the Atlantic Ocean) Helena, mother of Constantine the Great (also known as Helena of Constantinople, a Saint in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christianity) such cities as: Helena, Alabama Helena, Arkansas sit. Both Martz and Veith deny the similarity, with Martz reporting, "I'm a very modest person, no one would ever see me like that. My husband doesn't ever see me like that." Martz finished her time in office campaigning for President Bush in OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the northeastern corner of the United States. It was the first and eastern-most state in the Midwest admitted to the Union under the Northwest Ordinance. postal abbreviation is OH its old-style abbreviation is O. Ohio is an I, ArizonaArizona was the 48th state admitted to the United States and is part of the Southwest United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, south and east of the Colorado River, bordering New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California and Mexico. Its major cities ar, and other swing states, and sparring with incoming Democratic governor Brian SchweitzerBrian Schweitzer(b. 1955) is the Governor-elect of Montana and a member of the U. Democratic Party. Schweitzer is a rancher from Whitefish, Montana. He was a Clinton appointee to the U. Agriculture Department from 1993 to 1999. In 2000 he ran for U. Senat over transition of state government.