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Tuesday, August 26, 2025Progressive Hope For Takeover Of ABQ Council Seat Falters With Candidate Withdrawal, Plus: More State of the City React With Buchanan Farmer out, Colton Newman is now Grout's sole rival but he has only raised $100 while Grout has qualified for about $50,000 in public financing. District 9 in the far NE Heights and Foothills area has grown more moderate in recent cycles. Grout is a down the line Trumper, but has tried to be quiet about it, focusing on community involvement while adopting conservative policies on crime and homelessness. Buchanan Farmer did not say why she is abandoning the race only that it is due to "personal and family circumstances." The current Council leans 5 to 4 favor of the GOP, with conservative Dem Councilor Louie Sanchez often voting with the four R's. He is leaving his District 1 seat to run for Mayor so the seat is expected to fall back into the Dem column. Dems are still holding out hope that they can take down longtime District 5 GOP Councilor Dan Lewis on ABQ's westside with Dem Athena Allen, wife of BernCo Sheriff John Allen. But Lewis, another Trumper who has fled to the closet, is celebrating pork barrel projects he has brought home in his recent spate of advertising. With Mayor Keller favored to win a third term, he is line to face a slightly more favorable Council although his relations with the nine member panel have been more strained in his second term with councilors from both parties. MORE STATE OF CITY We blogged Monday that we found Mayor Keller's State of the City address mostly pollyannish but city spokesman Gilbert Gallegos says a good portion of the Saturday talk had Keller acknowledging the serious issues facing the city: Joe, Here is a link to the full speech, and for what it’s worth, some examples of the Mayor’s perspective: “Don’t get me wrong, I see what you see, challenges seemingly all around us: addiction driven crime and homelessness, families worried about rent, guns in our schools and parents targeted by ICE.” “If there were easy solutions to our long-term problems, I would have fixed them in a heartbeat, I assure you. But we’ve been doing the hard work, now alongside those challenges are signs of progress and resilience that remind us we can hold our community together and lift up Albuquerque.” “We still have a ways to go, but the path is clear: follow through, match investment to the scale of the problem, and deliver lasting outcomes we all deserve.” Reader krent201 came with this critique of Keller's State of the City: Crime: There is no way to provide a comparison for how bad it is. Making statements like, “when you’re in the middle of a turn-around” is the most chilling feature of ABQ and the voters may actually believe it! There is no mistake about what is happening in ABQ and NM. The only thing said that is correct is that “projects are finally showing results." For those results take a drive down Central or 2nd St. Better still come to my house where junkies and derelicts are sitting out front shooting up, leaving their waste droppings and food wrappers, all within a five foot area. Yes, the results of 8 years of this fantasy riddled administration is stated clearly in your last sentence, “Don’t worry, be happy”. Maybe he needs to take another toke? This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.
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