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Wednesday, November 05, 2025Keller Takes First But White Keeps It Close; Duo To Meet In Mayoral Runoff December 9; Uballez Places Third, Plus: Council Outcomes Incuding An Upset; Betzen Wins Big In APS School Board Race; In Santa Fe Councilor Garcia Will Be Next Mayor
BernCo results here. All state results here. Of his five foes Keller most wanted to face White in a runoff but perhaps not with White breathing down his neck by getting within five points of overtaking him for first place honors. The final mayoral results had Keller with 35.55 percent; White 30.86 percent; Alex Uballez 18.7; Louie Sanchez 6.47; Mayling Armijo 5.6 and Eddie Varela 1.2 percent. That difference of just 4.69 percent between Keller and White puffed a wave of energy through the beleaguered Republican camp with Topic A being whether the close run would mean significant campaign money for White. Dems think the GOP is blowing smoke, that a close call does not translate into a runoff where Keller will have a distinct advantage in a Democratic dominated city. That advantage was seen in a poll released last night while we were on the air at KANW. It was paid for by the PAC supporting Keller and was conducted by GBAO Associates in anticipation of a Keller-White runoff: Ascend ABQ PAC polled 400 likely voters Oct. 16 -19 in anticipation of a runoff election. Among those who had a preference, 45% said they were likely to support Keller over White. White earned 38% of likely runoff votes. 17% say they would be undecided if those two candidates were their choices. The margin of error was 4.9%, according to GBAO pollsters who conducted the poll. Not bad but it's not 50 percent. The pollster adds: When voters learn more about White, Keller's lead grows and he passes the 50 percent mark. "Learn more about White" is a euphemism for throwing the kitchen sink at him. That's exactly what's coming White's way as a fired up Keller made clear to supporters at the downtown Arrive Hotel last night: We've seen that show before that he brings. The hate, the division, the fake answers, seemingly waving a magic wand that will solve all of our problems when we know it is harder than that. It takes grit, it takes guts, it takes a real plan. Of course, the mayor threw out the Trump threat that appeared to drive some of the record turnout of 132,000 for the election,
Voters said enough is enough and we want change. Crime and homelessness are destroying the city we love and that was on the ballot as well. Voters spoke loud and clear they want a new direction for our city and we're going to deliver it. Keller will continue with public financing in the runoff, collecting $377,000. White failed to qualify for public financing and is going private. GOP analyst Bob Cornelius told our audience what White must do: He has to take that close second place and sell it to his donors and national Republicans to quickly raise money. Keller will get $377,00o in public money for the runoff plus more support from an outside PAC. White will need to do the same to compete. It's far from certain that White will be able to capture the hearts of those many Republicans who have nothing but bitterness for him after years of infighting in the GOP, so much so that some top GOP donors were giving money to conservative Dem Louie Sanchez in the mayoral race. For Keller the first order of business is getting Alex Uballez on board with his campaign. His 19 percent showing was solid considering his lagging fundraising. He did throw a bone to Keller in his concession speech. His campaign said: Uballez threw his support to Telles and Garcia in upcoming run-offs, calls on City to vote against Darren White. That's a start but the mayor hoping to make history by winning a third consecutive term still needs a strong embrace from his progressive rival--almost as much as White needs a large campaign war chest. COUNCIL ACTION The Telles that Uballez mentioned is progressive Dem Stephanie Tellez who pulled off an upset win in City Council District 1 on the westside and will face Republican Joshua Neal in the runoff. Candidates Ahren Griego and Daniel Leiva were left in their dust. Teresa Garcia is the candidate who came in second to three term Dem incumbent Councilor Klarissa Pena, prompting a runoff in District 3 in the Westside/Valley seat. In District 5 on the northwest side, Republican Councilor Dan Lewis beat out a challenge from Athenea Allen, wife of BernCo Sheriff John Allen. In Distrcit 7 in the NE Heights Tammy Fiebelkorn ran unopposed on the ballot and won a second term, In District 9 in the far NE Heights GOP Councilor Renee Grout passed Dem Colton Newman to take the win. In that hotly contested APS School Board battle in District 3, it wasn't even close. Retired teacher Rebecca Betzen bested School Board President 50 to 40 with the remainder going to Isaac Flores who had quit the race but his name remained on the ballot. In Santa Fe mayoral front-runner and City Councilor Michael Garcia lived up to the name and easily won the eight way contest to succeed Mayor Alan Webber. Like ABQ, Santa Fe saw high turnout. This is the Home of New Mexico Politics. |
  
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