The 2019 ABQ election gets underway in earnest this week. The first batch of absentee ballots go into mailboxes tomorrow and continue through Oct. 31. Early in-person voting also gets going tomorrow with voting at the downtown BernCo Clerk's annex. Early voting citywide for the Nov. 5 election begins October 19.

It's the races for four seats on the nine member city council that will garner the most attention in the final stretch. Here's how they look today:

District  Two--Downtown/North Valley/Barelas. This has been an exceptionally quiet campaign, given the sometimes controversial service of Dem incumbent Councilor Ike Benton. He has drawn four challengers but they have run campaigns so below the radar that political pros wonder if Benton can get 50 percent of the vote and avoid a run-off election. A run-off would be held Dec. 10 between the two top vote-getters if no one gets to 50 percent Nov. 5. Benton may have a shot for a first round win but his opponents still have a couple of weeks to move the needle.

District 4--This seat in the NE Heights is drawing attention because incumbent GOP Councilor Brad Winter is retiring and has endorsed Republican Brook Bassan. But Bassan is running into trouble because of her voting registration habits. We broke the news recently that Bassan switched to the R's only in May. The Alibi adds:

Bassan changed her registration to Republican in late May of 2019 after spending two years as a registered Democrat. In fact, Bassan has changed her registration from Democrat to Republican five times over the past 13 years.

Bassan's back and forth registration drew one of the first negative hits in a council race with Dem contender Ane Romero chiding her with this email:

. . . Republican Brook Bassan, has changed her registration “from Democrat to Republican five times over the past 13 years.” And she changed her registration from Democrat back to Republican just a few months ago and halfway through the public finance period in June, presumably for some sort of political advantage. . . I think this District deserves steady, transparent leadership. You'll always know where I stand on the issues that are important to District 4.

The third candidate in the race is Athena Ann Christodoulou but this is a two way drama. Dems think the Bassan registration controversy and endorsement of Romero by Mayor Keller increases their chances of taking this swing seat--and without a run-off. Bassan backers hope that her to and fro registration shows she is not a hard core partisan and is a good fit for the swing district.

District 6--In this sprawling SE Heights district incumbent Dem Councilor Pat Davis remains favored despite concerns over his crime fighting record and his backing of the controversial ART project. His Dem foe is attorney and neighborhood leader Gina Naomi Dennis but she has hardly put a glove on him and time is running out.

District 8--This appears to be the lone bright spot for the R's as Republican Trudy Jones is positioned to win another four year term in the far NE Heights district. Her Dem opponent Maurreen Skowran is praised by Dems as highly competent but Mayor Keller did not endorse her and the district remains dominated by R voters.

ABQ'S LURE

Crime remains a major problem but ABQ's star shines bright for those weighed down by the high cost of living in big cities. A headline from Marketwatch:

This 57-year-old said ‘screw this’ to San Francisco — and retired to ‘delightful’ Albuquerque, where she slashed her expenses by 70%

It’s an artsy spot — there are hundreds of galleries and art studios; monthly art crawls, and a robust performing-arts scene — and a city where outdoor enthusiasts flock to. That’s helped along by the miles of hiking and biking trails as well as the roughly 300 days of sunshine. And Reinstein says she loves that it’s a diverse city with its own unique cuisine and celebrations.

We ran that because Mayor Keller wants everyone to clean up their act for Balloon Fiesta. Fine, Mayor. Just don't ask us to clean up a homeless camp.

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c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019