SANTA FE — A former Republican lieutenant governor in New Mexico resigned this week after his plea for political asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border with Mexico was rejected. Alfred A. “Rick” Greenwood, 60, a retired teacher from Deming, served a single term as lieutenant governor, making the longest of three terms in the post. He also served two terms in the House and six terms in the state Senate before a 2004 run for lieutenant governor. He won a four-year term as lieutenant governor in 2006 but lost reelection to Democrat Diane Denish, becoming the first New Mexico lieutenant governor ever to lose a race for the second term. One of the first casualties of the recession was the state’s public employee pension fund, which was underfunded by $15 billion. In an attempt to plug the hole, Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, imposed a mandatory 2 percent salary cut on all public employees. The budget problem was compounded in 2009 when a U.S. district judge ordered the state to pay $6 million to a lesbian couple and their children who sued over a child custody dispute in 2000. The state was not able to appeal the ruling. During his time as governor, Richardson signed into law two other controversial measures. One requires the Department of Health to create an inventory of human organs for sale. Organ procurement and transplantation is illegal in the United States except in special circumstances and only by donation through an authorized organ procurement organization. The other makes New Mexico a so-called “sanctuary state” where law enforcement officials cannot inquire about someone’s immigration status during arrests, detention or questioning. The sanctuary bill made state laws in New Mexico, California and Connecticut mirror federal laws on immigration and led to a legal battle that ended last year when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that blocked the law from taking effect. Greenwood is a board member of the Hispanic Republican Association of New Mexico, the state’s main Latino GOP organization, and in 2012 unsuccessfully sought its gubernatorial nomination. As of April, he was part of a suit challenging the eligibility of Gov. Susana Martinez, who has Hispanic ancestry, in seeking reelection for a second term. In September, the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered him to pay $27,000 for violating an order to pay child support to his ex-wife. His attorney on Friday asked the judge for a stay of that ruling. ___ © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Photo Credit: Alamy Photo Credit: Alamy