White and Keller deal final blows during televised mayoral debate

With early voting opening for the runoff election in less than a week, mayoral candidates incumbent Tim Keller and challenger Darren White rehashed topics like crime, homelessness and the president during an hourlong debate Monday night co-hosted by KOAT-TV, KKOB radio and the Journal.

Keller harked back to projects achieved during his tenure, like the Gateway, a system of homeless shelters, starting construction on the Rail Trail, a pedestrian loop around Downtown and Barelas and the Albuquerque Community Safety department — but spoke little on his vision for the future beyond expanding existing policies.

White, on the other hand, bristled about crime and homelessness, while repeatedly trading quips with Keller about how their respective political career had been “failures.”

Crime and homelessness

While White has often been critical of Albuquerque Police Department Police Chief Harold Medina, during Monday’s debate, White held his feet to the fire and called for the chief to be fired.

“The question here shouldn’t be whether we would keep the chief of police,” White said. “The question should be why hasn’t he already been fired?”

In a past interview with the Journal, Medina walked back his plans to retire by the end of next month. Keller later told the Journal that if reelected he would search for a new police chief. Keller said that the pair were “on the same page,” according to past Journal reporting.

The two candidates also argued over crime statistics, with Keller stating that crime was down and White arguing that violent crime has become “out of control.”

“I understand people don’t feel safer,” Keller said. “I get that, I feel the same way, but I also know that crime is down statistically.”

APD crime statistics released in early November show that crime is down in every major category, including homicide and aggravated assault, compared to last year.

White has repeatedly questioned such statistics.

Moreover, White said that Keller not “getting the job done” is what led Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to deploy the National Guard to fight crime in Albuquerque alongside other law enforcement initiatives like Operation Route 66, which is run by the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, New Mexico State Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico Corrections Department’s Probation and Parole Division.

Keller rebutted that he is using his resources to combat a longstanding problem that he inherited.

“That’s why you need partners and that’s why you have to ask for help and then use it,” Keller said.

APD and the National Guard collaborate, but APD does not work with Operation Route 66, instead conducting its own law enforcement efforts along Central, according to past Journal reporting.

At points during the debate, discussion of crime often merged with homelessness.

White favored arresting people living on the streets for illegal camping if they refused to go to a homeless shelter, while Keller called for the city to continue improving its addiction and housing services.

“The mayor has let them do whatever the hell they want,” White said.

White cited a recent Point-in-Time count conducted by the Coalition to End Homelessness, which found that there are nearly 3,000 people living on Albuquerque’s streets, many of whom are not originally from the state.

In response, Keller called White’s proposed approach of removing all encampments during his first day in office “dangerous” and a “mass casualty event.”

“You cannot arrest your way out of this problem,” Keller said.

Economics

Candidates found an unlikely truce when asked about economics, both sharing similar views though continuing to argue over other topics such as crime.

Both supported raising the minimum wage, though disagreed about the timeline.

Santa Fe recently voted to raise its minimum wage from $15 to $17.50 an hour , effective January 2027. Keller said he supported efforts to do the same in Albuquerque and said he’d attempted it previously.

White said he supported increasing wages, though he also said Albuquerque’s economy needed to stabilize first so a pay-jump didn’t put mom-and-pop shops out of business.

Finding more common ground, both agreed that the State Fair — which the governor announced would be moved nearly a year ago — should stay where it is.

After the governor’s announcement, the state hired a consulting firm to develop plans for the 236-acre tract of land, with visions of replacing or diminishing the fair’s footprint to make way for housing projects, an events stadium and businesses.

Keller said he was amenable to some redevelopment around the property’s corners, which he said are not critical to the fair and sit empty most of the year. White did not say whether he supported some development alongside the fair, instead focusing on crime outside of its walls.

“I agree with the former mayor, Marty Chavez, when he said that the area around the State Fair is ‘a cesspool,’” White said.

Keller fought back against that statement, saying it was offensive and shamed Albuquerque residents.

“Many of our families, including mine, have lived in and out of the International District,” Keller said. “It may have crime challenges, but nowhere in our city is a cesspool.”

Presidential pressure

During the debate, both candidates had an opportunity to ask their opponent one question. Keller spent his question on President Donald Trump, asking White which policies he approved and disapproved of.

While White did not say which policies he disagreed with, he said he’d been “very critical” of Trump and was an “independent.”

Earlier in the debate, White accused Keller of running a fearmongering campaign rather than one of actionable policy.

Keller, in turn, said that White “can’t have it both ways” and compared White’s immigration policies to that of Trump. White argued that his policy, which would mean returning Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the Prisoner Transport Unit, an Albuquerque Police Department substation used to detain people after arrest before they’re transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center, aligns with a former President Barack Obama-era policy.

Though the policy was in place during Obama’s first term, he repealed it in his second.

White asked Keller a question related to the growing city budget during Keller’s time as mayor, and Keller defended his programs and initiatives.

With the last televised debate wrapped, voters will ultimately decide who rises to Albuquerque’s highest office in two weeks. Early voting starts Dec. 1 and the runoff election is Dec. 9.

Watch the debate

KOAT split the debate into four videos uploaded to YouTube. Watch each part below for the full debate.