Bill Richardson is mourned in New Mexico after globe-trotting career, lies in state at Capitol

By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Friends and admirers of former Gov. Bill Richardson are mourning the hard-charging politician whose career spanned the globe, from mountain villages of northern New Mexico as a youthful congressman to the United Nations and a litany of countries on unofficial diplomatic missions that often helped free imprisoned Americans. Richardson’s casket lay in state Wednesday in the rotunda of the New Mexico Statehouse in Santa Fe. Final memorials and funeral services are scheduled in the state capital where Richardson served two terms as governor starting in 2003 and is still remembered for his innate political skills, his ambition and an ability to both clash and reconcile with rivals.