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They say her name fits nicely among the kings and queens of New Mexico, those giants of political lore she felt so comfortable alongside.

Bruce King. Manuel Lujan Jr.

Judy Woodward.

"If you talk to the old-timers in politics, like Bruce and Alice King, she was just part of this New Mexico tradition and heritage," said Robert Lucero, a member of the Albuquerque Board of Education.

"She knew every state senator, representative, U.S. senator. She dealt with just about everybody."

Woodward, a Democrat who presided over some of Bernalillo County's most controversial elections as county clerk, died Saturday after a long respiratory illness, daughter Dianne Glover said. She was 79.

Woodward was a woman who did not stand in the shadows of those giants but next to them. She loved integrating politics into her life, observers said, as much as she loved her job managing election tallies.

"Truly, she cared about doing what she thought was the best thing for the citizens," said Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc. in Albuquerque. "She was dedicated to her job."

But it's that job as county clerk from 1993-2000, particularly the role of administering elections, that cast its own shadow upon her legacy.

Woodward was criticized during the Nov. 14, 2000, general election, when computer programming mistakes delayed results in the topsy-turvy presidential race between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush.

In 1998, 5,000 absentee ballots remained uncounted from Election Day when exhausted poll workers were sent home after midnight.

Earlier that year, it took nearly three days to count 18,000 absentee ballots in a special congressional election.

In 1996, a box holding several hundred absentee ballots was discovered two days after the election.

In each of these cases, Woodward proved resilient in the face of criticism, said Irene Serna, who worked for seven years under Woodward, including five as her chief deputy clerk.

"From what I remember about Judy is she was so resilient. Me? I would say, 'Oh, my God,' " said Serna, who is now the county's chief deputy assessor.

"She would take whatever they (the news media) printed, we would have a meeting, and she would make it a positive experience. She would learn something from it."

Serna said it's unfortunate Woodward's most public moments would come in the eye of controversy. The world of a election management is one fraught with the possibility of error — human and otherwise, she said.

"Judy was such a good person," Serna said. "When it comes to an election, I don't care what clerk you have in there; there are a lot of things that can go wrong. And they will go wrong."

Even late in life, as her health was diminishing, she still sought the company of today's political heavyweights.

Serna about three months ago hosted a fund-raiser at her home for Gov. Bill Richardson's Democratic presidential campaign.

"She wanted to be part of it, even though her health was not doing well," Serna said.

Woodward made a presence, as she always did, Serna said.

"I have a picture of her and him (Richardson) hugging," Serna said. "I framed the picture, and she had it on her fireplace."

The family plans a private memorial service next month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.