Dyson: Bruce King, 'cowboy philosopher'

a political minute thumbnail 12:30 pm legend-- who helped shape the modern land of enchantment--...  More »

a political minute thumbnail 12:30 pm legend-- who helped shape the modern land of enchantment-- has died. former governor bruce king-- passed away at his ranch in stanley-- this morning. for the latest reaction to king's passing-- political reporter stuart dyson-- joins us-- in our top story. bruce king will probably be the last authentic cowboy to serve as governor of new mexico - his style was deep rural "aw-shucks" - his politics were centrist -and he never saw a hand he didn't want to shake. " it's a great day isn't it?" it was when bruce king was out campaigning -- employing the personal touch with the people of new mexico - something he enjoyed at the very core of his being.. in 1970, king - a democrat - won his first term as governor----defea ting republican pete domenici - who didn't let that faze him for long. in 1972 king has his finest hour in politics - establishing a new public school funding formula - ending forever the system of well-funded schools in wealthy neighborhoods minute thumbnail 12:31 pm and poorly funded schools in poor places. " to have every student receive basically the same amount of money we obviously had to bring most of the money that was going into education into the state coffers and then revert it back to every student so basically that's what we did - wasn't easy - caused a lot of hard feelings." the way the constituion was written back then a governor could only serve one term at a time. king ran again in 1978---and won... and won again 1990. by the time his third term ended, the constitution had been changed to allow back-to- back terms---so king ran again in 1994---but tasted defeat as voters went for republican maverick gary johnson. . "at least it's changing, it's a different era". after the loss, bruce and his wife alice headed back to the king ranch---where they spent their last yea before alice died last december. on his last day in the governor's office - new year's eve 1994 - we caught a rare glimpse of bruce king - cowboy philosopher. " we're minute thumbnail 12:32 pm gonna close shop here this afternoon - so i'm looking forward to going back to the ranch - it's like when you finish the harvest or you finish gathering the cattle and you ship all the cattle out." a lot of us are feeling that way today - so long bruce. now-- a statement from the his son-- attorney general gary king-- released this morning on his father's passing--- "bruce king would be the first one to tell us all that death is just another phase in the cycle of life and that we must go on with our lives trying to do the best we can while helping others make their way too. bruce king wrote his autobiography back in '98 - cowboy in the roundhouse - he was 85 when he died this morning - back to you. flags have been lowered to half staff-- in honor of bruce king. governor bill richardson says flags will remain at half staff-- until further notice. in a statement released by richardson's office-- he says-- minute thumbnail 12:33 pm "governor bruce king's death leaves a huge void in our state. bruce king was an innovative, far- sighted governor who knew the state better than any living new mexican--- richardson went on to add-- " he was as genuine and colorful as his cowboy boots.  « Less