Anaya, Toney, 1941-

Toney Anaya (born April 29, 1941) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 26th governor of New Mexico from 1983 to 1987.

Born in Moriarty, New Mexico, he attended New Mexico Highlands University before receiving a B.A. from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University. He worked for the late Senator Dennis Chavez and as an executive assistant in the U.S. Department of State. From 1966 to 1969, Anaya was legislative counsel to U.S. Senator Joseph Montoya. In 1971, he became the administrative assistant to then Governor Bruce King. Anaya was also a Santa Fe County attorney, assistant district attorney for the first judicial district, and later established a private law practice in Santa Fe. From 1975 to 1979, Anaya served as New Mexico Attorney General. During his service as attorney general, Anaya oversaw an investigation of the upward curve in the level of drugs in the Penitentiary of New Mexico after 1972. In 1978, Anaya ran for the U.S. Senate, losing to Republican incumbent Pete Domenici.

In 1982, Anaya was elected Governor of New Mexico. As governor, Anaya focused on energy alternatives, water development and conservation, the environment, education, and economic development. Known as a visionary, he steered the state through a national recession, transforming New Mexico into a more technology-based economy and laying the groundwork for future deployment of rapid rail transit, education and social reform. In 1986, after the election of his successor, Garrey Carruthers, Anaya commuted the death sentences of all five death row inmates in New Mexico. He is a longtime opponent of capital punishment, had campaigned against the death penalty and in later interviews expressed no regret for the commutations. Anaya made headlines on March 28, 1986, by declaring New Mexico the nation's first "State of Sanctuary" for refugees from Central America.

Since leaving office, Anaya has served on numerous boards, commissions, and at nonprofit organizations, primarily focusing on Hispanic issues, education, and politics. He contributed significantly to the Democratic National Committee and the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 2009, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson appointed Anaya to head the New Mexico Office of Recovery and Reinvestment. From August 2009 to January 2011, Anaya served as CEO of Natural Blue Resources, a Woburn, Massachusetts-based penny stock company specializing in investments in environmentally friendly companies, including a New Mexico-based initiative to sell purified water. In July 2014, Anaya was accused of serving as a front man for the company, which was actually controlled by an ex-con who was legally barred from acting as an officer of a public company. Anaya entered into a civil settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to charges that he committed fraud. Under the terms of the settlement, Anaya agreed to a five-year ban from penny stock offerings and a cease-and-desist order without admitting or denying the charges.