ABQ City Clerk to Distribute Campaign Funds

Five candidates for City Council are in line to receive public financing for their campaigns.

Under the City Charter, candidates who collect a certain number of $5 contributions from voters in their district can qualify for city funding of their campaigns. They get $1 per registered voter to spend, or about $36,000 in a council-district race.

City Clerk Randy Autio said Monday that five candidates submitted enough contributions to qualify: incumbent Ken Sanchez in District 1, incumbent Isaac Benton in District 3, Dan Lewis in District 5, Michael Cook in District 7 and incumbent Don Harris in District 9.

Here’s a rundown on who’s running where:

District 1 – Southern West Side: Sanchez is running unopposed.

District 3 – Downtown, university area and West Side: Benton faces County Commissioner Alan Armijo.

District 5 – Northern West Side: Incumbent Michael Cadigan faces Robert J. Aragon, Jeremy Toulouse and Lewis.

District 7 – Mid-Northeast Heights: Incumbent Sally Mayer faces Louis Schiffman, Cook and David Green.

District 9 – Four Hills and Northeast Heights: Harris faces County Commissioner Michael Brasher and David Barbour. 

The clerk will formally certify the publicly financed candidates on Tuesday, then give ‘em their money on Wednesday.