Diane Daniels Denish (/ˈdɛnɪʃ/ DEN-ish; born March 7, 1949) is an American politician, who was the 28th lieutenant governor of New Mexico. She was elected in 2002, running on the same ticket as Governor Bill Richardson, and was re-elected in 2006. Denish is the first woman to hold that post. There was early speculation that Denish would run in the 2008 election for the New Mexico Senate seat vacated by Pete Domenici, but she ruled out running. She ran for governor in 2010 and was defeated by Republican nominee Susana Martinez on November 2, 2010.