gonzalez. er, i mean, martinez.

Down in Salazar country (that is, south-central and southwestern Colorado), it's a bit easier to get us mixed up. We Gonzalez' and Martinez' claim most of the residential pages from Pueblo through the Valley and onto Cortez, so be sure you've got everything straight before you go asking inside any old Steel City dive bar or Mexican joint. You're likely to get the common, "Oh, you mean So-And-So's kid?"

"Uh, I'm not sure."

A curious bystander will pipe in: "Well, it could be Judy's girl."

And on and on until you figure out there are twenty people with the same name as the person you're looking for.

Gonzalez or Martinez?
Top: U.S. Atty General Alberto Gonzalez
Middle: Former FC mayor Ray Martinez with G2
Bottom: Florida Senator Mel Martinez

Governor Ritter's staff stumbled into the Gonzalez/Martinez mix up today when they announced the appointment of Alamosa attorney Martin A. Gonzales as the Judicial Court judge in the 12th Judicial District (Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande and Saguache counties). Gonzalez was at first identified as a Martinez, which is nationally more common than Gonzalez. Unfortunately, not-so-suave conservatives have claimed both names in the national spotlight--and not for the greater good (Alberto y Mel: Hablo de ustedes).

And I'll take this moment to answer, once again, the question a lot of people have asked me since Ray Martinez (pictured with Bush) became Fort Collins' mayor back when I was a CSU student: He's not my uncle. As far as I know, we're not related. Former Pueblo County Commissioner and Owens-appointee Richard Martinez, however, is my great-uncle on my mother's side.

Yes, both of them are Republican. Good thing we've got many generations of Martinez hopefuls left to correct that error too. It's just going to take a few years.