Political Appointments
Ortega was involved in Republican Party politics from an early age. "I was born a Republican," she has been quoted on several occasions. She often credited her father, a lifelong Republican, with her decision to join the Party.
Ortega worked for Republicans at local and state levels initially as a type of low-key liaison to women and Hispanic groups in New Mexico. After her return to her home state, she became involved in the 1978 re-election campaign of Sen. Pete Domenici. In time, the senator became something of a political benefactor.
In April 1982, Ortega was named to a 10-person Presidential Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business Ownership by President Ronald Reagan. In December, she was appointed one of five members and chair of the Copyright Royal Commission, a federal agency established in 1976 to set royalty fees for the cable television and music entertainment industries. In 1983, Sen. Domenici, by that time chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, put forth Ortega's name for the post of U.S. Treasurer. She was officially nominated by President Reagan on September 12 of that year.
Read more about this topic: Katherine D. Ortega
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