Darren White went from pugnacious bulldog in the first mayoral TV debate where he staged a full frontal attack on Mayor Tim Keller to last might's final TV face off where he turned himself into a tame house cat. (Video excerpts and complete transcript here.)

Maybe the former sheriff was purring too much and barking too little. In one of his questions to the mayor he softballed him by asking whether he felt the programs he had pursued were cost effective for taxpayerss.  Keller swatted that away like a bothersome gnat, saying "yes, they have." 

Well, we're certainly glad to learn that. Thanks, Darren.

White did seem to get under the mayor's skin by answering just about very question by talking about crime. Keller reminded the audience that his foe was given votes of no confidence by two police agencies he presided over.  

'17 GOP mayoral candidate and White supporter Eddy Aragon said White made some progress since his widely panned performance on the KRQE-TV debate:

Keller is focused on White. White is focused on the city. A complete 180’ from last debate.

Veteran analyst and Santa Fe attorney Greg Payne thought the holiday week debate may not have registered much with the electorate, saying: "Their attention is elsewhere." He said.

Well, there was that little thing called Monday Night Football airing at the same time as the debate. 

As for the elephant in the room--Donald Trump--White did his best to keep that yoke off his neck. Keller asked him: "Do you support Donald Trump?" White, addressing an issue that could literally cost him thousands of votes in Democratic ABQ, came with a well-rehearsed answer for Keller:

You are so desperate to cling to power you will say absolutely anything including attaching labels to me that are not true. I have been very critical of Trump. Hell, its; been in the newspapers. I have been fiercely independent and that's the way I will lead. You have to resort to Donald Trump because your record is that of failure. 

Point made and taken. It's true that White has not been keen on Trump but Keller's ICE ads that are scaring the bejesus out of Dems are out there in all their anti-Trump glory. 

Speaking of ads, Keller came with a softie for one of his last, but the tage line reminded everyone of the aforementioned elephant on the ballot: 

Even with violence threatened from Washington, I'll never stop defending Albuquerque.

Much of the debate was consumed with the now broken record themes of crime and homelessness with no new ground broken by either hopeful. The newspaper accurately termed it a "rehashing."

TV GAMES

KOAT did not stream the heavily promoted debate on their website as it ran om the air at 7 p.m. and it was still not up on the site an hour after the hour-long debate. Later, excerpts were posted on the site and YouTube but not the complete debate. Why not? And annoyed readers noted they had to wade through numerous commercials to get the snippets of content posted.

We're told management did not want to post the debate until later because viewers could scan though candidate statements before they ran on TV. Say what? You can't stream on the website what is going out over the air? And even if you can't is management fearful political operatives will get a statement out before the debate is over? Who cares? No wonder the cords are being cut. 

Then there's the station's new policy of pre-recording their debates instead of conducting them live. The debate aired last night was recorded at 1 p.m. 

Then there was the station's misstep in the first mayoral debate they hosted in October when they did not invite all six candidates running and instead hosted only the four who polled best.

The Journal co-hosts the KOAT debates. Maybe the ink-stained wretches should take over from the talking heads. 

MAYOR RUSK DIES 

Former ABQ Mayor David Rusk is most remembered as an advocate for public transit--he took the bus from his SE Heights home to City Hall most work days--and for weeds that grew out of control in street medians that the city could not or would not cut down.

The latter was a major reason why Rusk, who served as Mayor from 1977-'81, lost his re-election by coming in third place. (More on that below).

Of course he is also known for other reasons--as the son of Secretary of State Dean Rusk who served under LBJ--and for his erudite approach to urban policy, a field he established his career in after serving as mayor. 

Rusk's death was confirmed by City Hall. He was 85.

Rusk, who we covered as a radio news reporter for KRZY-KRST, was a Democratic liberal through and through. His youthful exuberance--at 37 he was the youngest mayor elected under the current form of government--was key to his election in 1977 when he defeated the more staid and Republican Mayor Harry Kinney. 

The focus that he brought to urban planning and making cities more livable evaded him on the campaign trail. Despite mixing with the public on his daily bus rides, he came across a bit aloof and not of the common man--which he wasn't having been born and raised in the East Coast establishment. 

Following his single mayoral term Rusk went to work for PNM and eventually relocated to DC. From where he spoke and consulted on urban policy across the nation and authored books on the topic.

Earlier this year the city of ABQ honored Rusk with the dedication of ABQ RIDE’s original transit facility and the Kimo Theatre's orchestra pit. Both now bear his name, 

Rusk, who also served a term in the state House ('75-'77), was an ardent support of downtown and the historic Kimo located there. He was  instrumental in getting a bond issue passed to renovate the striking southwestern "movie palace" to ensure its future viability. Thanks to his efforts it remains one of our state's most iconic and beloved structures.

But what now is seen as a signature accomplishment was seriously attacked back then by competing mayoral candidates at least one of whom wanted to tear down the Kimo. And Rusk's overall spotty record often has him tagged as well-intentioned but largely ineffectual.

The streak of populism that coursed through ABQ in '81 was accompanied by similar tones in Ronald Reagan's new presidency, leaving Rusk vulnerable. Harry Kinney, who Rusk defeated in '77, won the mayor's office back in a run-off election with populist KOB-TV personality Gordon Sanders. (Mark Ronchetti would come much later.)

David Rusk had vision, brains and was a little ahead of his time, all of which earned him his own chapter in the never ending book of La Politica. 

THE YEAR WAS 1981

Joe Monahan (2025)

Here's blog report a we penned in 2022, recounting the 1981 mayoral election. On the occasion of Mayor Rusk's passing, we run excerpts today: