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Friday, June 12, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE ELECTIONS NOTEBOOK
By Sean Olson
Some of the dust kicked up on the campaign trail ...
Mayor Martin Chávez still hasn't declared his candidacy for another term, but he has raised — and spent — more money than any mayoral candidate since the last quarter of 2008.
Chávez has raised $40,050 since then and spent $41,618, according to campaign finance reports filed with the city. Richard Romero gathered $31,455 and Richard Berry raised $23,936, according to reports from the two Chávez challengers.
All three candidates have qualified for public financing, but are allowed to raise "seed money" to get campaigns off the ground. The seed money is subtracted from the public funding given to each candidate.
Chávez spent $22,000 on a poll from Lake Research in the last quarter of 2008, about $11,500 for mailings in the first quarter of 2009 and nearly $4,500 on an auto-dialer phone call in the first quarter of 2009. The mailer was for Thanksgiving cards and the poll was done to help Chávez decide whether to run for mayor or a statewide office, said campaign manager Mark Fleisher.
— Sean Olson
Not much campaigning has begun — nor has much cash been spent — in Albuquerque City Council races so far, with a single exception.
Dan Lewis, one of several challengers in the council's District 5, spent about $525 from his campaign to run automated phone calls targeting incumbent Michael Cadigan in early May.
The call repeats relays statements made by Cadigan to Lewis and others at a lunch shortly after Cadigan withdrew from the mayoral race. Cadigan said he was "too jaded and cynical to continue being a city councilor," according to the transcript of the call.
Cadigan said he made the statements privately to people during the lunch, but later changed his perspective.
"I'm deeply disappointed that (Lewis) has resorted to personal attacks and negative campaigning. The people of District 5 deserve a councilor who is committed to talking about the issues, not personal attacks," Cadigan said.
Lewis said Cadigan's statements were important for the race, as they were made just before Cadigan announced his intention to run for the seat again.
"It was literally days before that. I think it was relevant," he said.
Jeremy Toulouse and Robert J. Aragon also are running for the District 5 seat.
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