Albuquerque mayoral race heads to runoff in test of city’s direction

Incumbent Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller leaned on his eight-year record in office but failed to win enough votes to claim an unprecedented consecutive third term outright, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s city election.

He will face off against former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White in a Dec. 9 runoff election, which occurs when no candidate receives 50% of the votes cast.

Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff called the runoff based on votes that had been tallied with all precincts partially reporting, with Keller capturing 36% of the vote as White took 31%, according to unofficial results.

Coming in third with 19% of the vote was former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Alex Uballez. Outgoing District 1 City Councilor Louie Sanchez had 6%; Mayling Armijo, former Bernalillo County director of economic development, got 6%; and Eddie Varela, who spent 22 years with Albuquerque Fire Rescue primarily as a paramedic, received 2%.

Businessman Daniel Chavez, who dropped out of the race in late September, received 1%.

Keller, 47, said Tuesday night he wants to compare his and White’s records in public office during the next stretch of the race.

“In sharp contrast, you see me pushing the city forward, making real progress, making the tough decisions that we need to go forward and defending our city against a president that’s trying to divide us,” Keller said.

In his speech, White said, “If you believe Mayor Keller has done a good job on the big issues like crime and homelessness, then vote for him. But if you think that we can do better — and we can do better — I ask you to join my campaign and bring the change that is needed to Albuquerque, and we will make it happen.”

In his concession speech, Uballez told supporters, “We are fighting to build a city that works for every one of us.”

While the campaign may not have secured enough votes to make it to the runoff, “we have changed fundamentally how politics work in this city,” Uballez said. “There is something deeply broken when we as voters are faced with a choice between someone who is going nowhere and someone who will take us backwards.”

The race was moderately low-profile because Keller’s challengers didn’t qualify for public financing that potentially would have helped compete with his television ad campaign.

Keller received nearly $734,000 of his $759,575 in contributions to date from public financing. White reported $303,235 in campaign contributions, as of Nov. 3, spending $266,092.

Should he win the runoff, Keller would be the first Albuquerque mayor elected to three consecutive terms. Former mayor Martin Chávez held three terms, but they were not consecutive.

White, a longtime face of local law enforcement who went on to open a successful medical marijuana company, has said repeatedly that he would only serve one term if elected.

The mayoral race focused largely on Albuquerque’s crime rate, homelessness, housing and economic development.

Keller, a Democrat who has served in the state Legislature and as state auditor, defended his record as mayor and his knowledge of the issues, emphasizing the need for follow-through. White said he offered a change of pace to voters to “clean up the mess” the incumbent’s administration has created.

Keller was elected to his first mayoral term in 2017.

He contends his administration has rebuilt the Albuquerque Police Department, lowering the city’s chronically high crime rate while instituting U.S. Department of Justice reforms. He touted APD statistics showing a reduction in nearly every crime category in recent years.

Keller maintained his administration’s creation of the civilian Albuquerque Community Safety department to respond to mental health, substance abuse, homelessness and other noncriminal calls.

He also shepherded the Gateway network of shelters and services for unhoused individuals, which he says is responsible for taking 1,000 people a day off the streets.

Keller’s campaign stated he was running, in part, to stand up to “Trump’s policies and harmful cuts.”

White accused Keller of turning Albuquerque into a sanctuary for criminals and promised to end Albuquerque’s sanctuary city policies.

Keller countered that he was “refusing to use city resources to enforce Trump’s policies or separate families.”

Banking on his law enforcement history, White hammered Keller on Albuquerque’s crime problem and promised to add more of the city’s 900-some officers to patrolling the streets.

White served as a police officer in the Houston and at APD before his appointment in 1995 by Republican Gov. Gary Johnson as Cabinet secretary for the state Department of Public Safety.

He became Bernalillo County Sheriff in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006. He left that job in 2009 after being appointed by Republican Mayor Richard Berry to public safety director for the city of Albuquerque.

White left law enforcement to join the private sector, where he founded and served as co-owner and CEO of Purlife, a licensed medical cannabis producer in New Mexico, from 2015 to 2021, when the company was sold.