NMiF Takes a First Glance at the Albuquerque Mayoral Race

While the midterm elections aren’t until next year, which will also see a governor’s race in New Mexico, local elections across the state this November also include some prominent seats, including mayor of both Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  

NMiF is kicking off our election coverage this week by introducing you to two of the lesser-known candidates vying for Albuquerque’s top job. This race is just one of several we’ll cover in the coming weeks, and the field vying to keep Mayor Tim Keller from a historic third term is crowded — seven total, including Keller. So, we had to make some choices about how to fairly give everyone airtime.  

With reliable polling forthcoming, our team reviewed campaign finance data, looking at contributions other than those that candidates made to themselves, along with the number of ballot petition signatures each secured. That allowed us to create a threshold for who would get one-on-one interviews on In Focus. The two candidates Reporter Cailley Chella introduces you to this week, Eddie Varela and Daniel Chavez, fell below that mark. We learn about their positions on topics from crime to homelessness and the city’s Immigrant-Friendly policy, or “sanctuary city” status.  

We also bring some context to what’s become a pretty consistently criticized element of city elections by candidates themselves: public financing. This year, only one Albuquerque mayoral candidate — notably the incumbent — qualified for a taxpayer-funded campaign. To get the windfall, candidates must get $5 contributions from 1% of their voters over just a few weeks. For mayoral candidates, that’s 3,780 contributions. For council candidates, it ranges from 335 to 466. It’s a high bar — maybe too high, considering a handful of candidates who gave it an honest try couldn’t get there this year, or in years past.  

On this week’s show, Senior Producer Lou DiVizio speaks with one of the architects of Albuquerque’s public campaign financing system, former City Councilor Eric Griego, about why it exists in the first place, why it’s so hard to qualify, and whether it’s due for some tweaks. 

In the coming weeks, we’ll continue to introduce you to Albuquerque’s mayoral candidates. We’ll also take a look at Santa Fe’s election, where voters will rank their top three contenders for Mayor Alan Webber’s job, who’s not seeking reelection, through the capital’s ranked-choice voting model.  

Speaking of elections — I have an update for those of you who tuned in last week to my two-parter on the shakeup on the New Mexico Redistricting Task Force, a group seeking to make New Mexico’s process fairer. I spoke with Democratic state Senator Harold Pope Jr. about his decision to resign from the group amid the nationwide partisan gerrymandering fight, as well as some remaining task force members about how they planned to move forward without partisan balance. Well, as of Wednesday night, we know what that’ll look like. Instead of closed meetings where lawmakers and experts approve recommendations for how New Mexico should draw its voting maps, the group will become an “educational panel,” according to the League of Women Voters, which convenes the task force.  

“What began as a genuine effort at collaboration to address voter suppression and promote fairness has been undermined,” said the League’s President Hannah Burling in a statement. “Without full representation, the task force can no longer fulfill its promise of fairness and balance.”

So instead, the public is invited to attend two webinars to learn about why the task force made this change, how the national redistricting battles could impact New Mexico, and what can be learned from past recommendations and resolutions. Those interested can register for the Sept. 10 and 17 sessions at fairdistrictsnm.org.  

-Nash Jones, Host