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Thursday, November 06, 2025Election Night Clippings And The Runoff To Come
The KOAT-Journal debate is set for Nov. 24 and early voting for the run off will be held Dec. 1-6. How about that turnout in the ABQ mayoral race? 132,000 voted in the contest and no one saw it coming. Fifty-five percent of the vote was cast early and absentee. The 45 percent cast on Election Day was far above expectations. Much of it was prompted by phone banks and other voter contact by progressive groups supporting Alex Uballez. He surged to 19 percent and finished third. What he won was the chance to sit in the catbird's seat and have a say in who will be the next mayor. These are some of the groups that boosted that late turnout that oosted Uballez as well as two progressive Dem women running for City Council in Westside and Valley Council Districts 1 and 3: New Mexico Working Families Party, Organization Power in Numbers, Olé New Mexico and New Mexico Native Vote. Mayor Keller's 36 percent finish left him far short of the 50 percent he will need in the December 9 runoff against Republican Darren White. Getting the progressive supporters of Uballez back on board--many of whom have tired of Keller--will be key to the outcome of the runoff. Chatter has already surfaced about Uballez perhaps joining the Keller administration in a third term. Let the negotiations begin. So far Uballez has said: (Let's)
make sure we unify to vote against Darren White and keep the city out
of his hands. We can have a safer, stronger city. It will take all of us
working together. The negative ads based on his past and the constant association of his candidacy with Donald Trump will be the Dems mainstays against him. BOND RATINGS The worst performing bond ABQ bond issue was the Metro Redevelopment Bond that won only 60.2 percent voter support. Shall the City of Albuquerque issue $2,540,000 of its general
obligation bonds to plan. . .to improve non-right of way and right of way land, property,
facilities or infrastructure owned by the City of Albuquerque for
Metropolitan Redevelopment Projects. The $51 million bond for street repairs was the most popular, getting 79 percent approval. MAYOR MONEY Mayor Keller was the only mayoral contender to qualify for $755,000 in public financing in the first round of voting. He will stick with public money for the second round and receive about $377,000 from the city. A PAC is also expected to continue outside support. How much money will White need to raise privately to effectively compete against Keller? Probably over $500,000 comes the answer from the consultants. White's campaign plans to seek donations from Republicans statewide. SANCHEZ SWAN SONG  I could not have done any of this or gotten as close as we did without the support of amazing donors, volunteers, and supporters. . .I decided to run for Mayor because I'm tired of watching failure after failure come out of our city government. Sitting on city council and watching the failure was too much to take. I’m very sad for our city today, but I believe that one day we will be able to choose a better path. Sanchez received 6 percent in the September Journal poll and never moved off of it. ADIOS ARMIJO Mayling Armjo had just 1 percent in that poll but she finished with six percent Election Night. She said of her effort: The
issues that drove this campaign — safer streets, stronger neighborhoods,
and real accountability— still matter. . . I’ll
keep holding our city’s leaders to their promises and fighting for the
Albuquerque our families deserve. This isn’t the end — it’s a reminder
that change demands persistence. Republican Michelle Garcia Holmes, a former mayoral candidate, supported Dem Sanchez in Tuesday's election. She said of the results and the runoff: The
numbers can predict the future. The results should be very
disappointing to us all. Albuquerque is dominated by progressive
liberals who will most likely vote Keller in again. THE COVERAGE
Hi Joe, I was listening to the KANW election night broadcast and wanted to comment on your discussion about waiting for Santa Fe's mayoral results which required eliminating candidates and counting second choices in the Ranked Choice Voting process. Panelists said it could take quite a while before we had results.
I noted that once all the ballots were in, the Clerk ran the process quite rapidly, and we had winners decided before 10:30 pm on election night. Meanwhile in Albuquerque with the separate runoff election, we won't have final results for another month. Seems like the instant runoff is the preferable wait! Among other comments on our Election Night coverage on KANW 89.1 FM was this from Kelley D: I listened to the KANW coverage. The first time. Wow. I was impressed.
You all did an excellent job with your analysis.
That said, Tim ran in nice guy mode. Taking hits from all opponents, especially White. I predict he goes not nice Tim. And he needs to. I don’t love Tim, but White worries me. I’m having RJ Berry PTSD. Add, I see (former Governor) Susana Martinez when I see or hear him. Disingenuous. Reader and listener Steve Meyer wrote: Thanks for another great election evening. Thank you, Steve, and to all who tuned in on the radio as well as the blog for our election coverage. We are grateful for the support. I'm Joe Monahan reporting from Albuquerque and. . . This is the Home of New Mexico Politics. |
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