Candidate Darren White alleges Keller used the State of the City as a campaign rally

Albuquerque mayoral candidate Darren White alleged this week that Mayor Tim Keller used the Aug. 23 State of the City address as a campaign rally that may require his campaign to reimburse the city.

White submitted a letter on Wednesday asking Albuquerque’s Office of the Inspector General to review expenditures, advertising, promotional materials and rhetorical content associated with the event.

White highlighted the timing of the event — 73 days before the Nov. 4 election — and comments in Keller’s address as evidence that the event served as a “campaign rally” the letter said.

White singled out comments Keller made during the address, including “For the first time, we are seeing what is working. Now is not time to abandon the progress we have made,” as an example of campaign rhetoric.

“Upon review of the remarks, it is evident that this event did not constitute a neutral State of the City address, but rather a campaign rally in support of the Mayor’s reelection,” White wrote in the letter.

A spokesman for Keller’s office rejected White’s allegations Thursday and said that nothing about this year’s State of the City differed from those of previous years.

“We schedule the State of the City as a community event based on a number of factors including when venues are available, weather, and any obligations the city may have,” city spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said in a statement.

“We also publicize the address in virtually the same way every year, and we show videos of city councilors talking about the communities they represent,” Gallegos said. “Last year, the address was also in mid-August based on those factors. We didn’t do anything different this year than we did in previous years.”

Previous State of the City addresses were held in August 2024, May 2023, June 2022, March 2021 and January 2020, according to Journal archives.

White, a former Bernalillo County sheriff and former secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, is one of eight challengers seeking to oust Keller from the office he has held since 2017. Keller is seeking his third term as mayor.

An OIG spokesman acknowledged Thursday that office staff had received White’s letter and are evaluating whether it is appropriate for review by the OIG.

White said Thursday he sent the letter to the city’s inspector general because he considers the case one of “waste, fraud and abuse,” which is appropriate for the OIG to investigate. White is asking the OIG to require Keller’s campaign to reimburse the city if the investigation finds violations of city policy or state law.

White alleged that the city spent “tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars” promoting the event, including television and radio ads, billboards and “branded materials” such as T-shirts.

“What benefit is it to the taxpayers?” White said Thursday in a phone interview. “I would say that with this speech they turned City Hall into a campaign headquarters.”