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Mayoral candidate ends campaign amid low polling and battery allegations
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Mayoral candidate Daniel Chavez confirmed that he will end his campaign due to low polling numbers.
”I am dropping out of the race to (be) Albuquerque’s next mayor as I no longer see a viable path forward after the poll results from Sunday,” Chavez said in a statement Tuesday.
In a Journal Poll, 1% of likely voters said they would vote for Chavez. Comparatively, incumbent Tim Keller and challenger Darren White are polling at 29 and 16%, respectively.
Though Chavez has suspended his campaign, his name will still appear on the ballot as the announcement came after the drop-out deadline in early September.
With Chavez out of the running, this leaves six candidates vying for the mayoral seat. Though Keller and White are currently polling the highest, 37% of voters are undecided, according to the Journal Poll.
Last week, news broke that Chavez had been charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly inappropriately touching a campaign staffer, according to court records. A criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court says that Chavez “grabbed and patted (a former staffer’s) buttocks twice without consent.”
Chavez pleaded not guilty Aug. 18 to the petty misdemeanor charge and was released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled for a bench trial on Oct. 14 before Metropolitan Court Judge Renee Torres.
Chavez said the allegations did not influence his decision to suspend his campaign.
