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Tuesday, September 16, 2025Uballez Throws Shade At City Clerk's Office Over His Failure To Qualify For Public Financing; "The Ref Wasn't Treating Us Fairly" But Offers No Evidence For Claims
No wonder that crushing blow continues to be felt by progressive Democrat Alex Uballez. But his deep disappointment has veered into the bizarre. Uballez implies in a TV interview that the City Clerk's office, charged with overseeing the public financing system, was somehow not on the level in dealing with his effort to qualify. The incendiary accusation from Uballez comes with no evidence offered and Uballez is not claiming that he qualified for the financing. So what gives? He explains his surprising inference about the Clerk this way: You understand the Mayor is the ref (referee), right? The city clerk's office. . . is the one who counted all of our five dollar donations (needed to qualify for the public financing). . . and gave me a call and said, 'hey, there was a clerical error. Some (of the donations you submitted) are going to fall off.' I get it. Clerical errors happen (but) when we looked at the number of qualifying contributions that had fallen off it was over a hundred." Q: Do you believe you did qualify for public financing? A: No. To be clear, when that happened we decided that the ref wasn't treating us fairly so we would have to play your own rules. The intimation by Uballez that there may have been some kind of wrongdoing in verifying his donations but without specifying exactly how is even more surprising coming as it does from a former New Mexico US Attorney whose job was to prosecute federal crimes. After the Uballez bid for public financing was rejected, Uballez complained about the high number of donations needed to quality but he did not impugn the Clerk's integrity. At that time the Keller campaign commented that Uballez complaining was like ""blaming the ref because you can't hit your free throws. The real issue isn't the rules. It's the lack of grassroots support, campaign credibility and organizational strength to lead." CASH RACE  An outside PAC supporting his candidacy reported raising $155,000 and had $120,000 in cash on hand. Uballez, forced to rely on private donations, has reported raising $193,000 and had cash on hand of $115,000. NO FRAUD The public financing system for mayoral hopefuls has been criticized for requiring too many qualifying donations--3,780. That threshold should be lowered, says former progressive City Councilor Eric Griego, the architect of the system. However, there have been no claims that the City Clerk--now or in the past--has exhibited bias in determining who has qualified for public money or engaged in any kind of fraud. Among Keller's six opponents on the ballot, Uballez has been seen by analysts as the the main threat to Keller who is seeking a third consecutive term. If no mayoral candidate wins 50 percent of the vote November 4, a runoff between the tow top contenders would be held about a month later. FUDGING UPWARDS
I'm 66. Your parts give out. When your parts give out, you get new parts and I started with the right arm. Actually, the Governor is still 65 and does not turn 66 until October 24. Maybe after nearly seven years on the Fourth Floor she's feeling her age and then some. She wouldn't be the first--nor the last. As for what part of her right arm was replaced, she didn't say. Whatever. She can now use the left arm when she points out legislators not listening to her. This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.
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