Keller looks to use past experience to counter President-elect Trump's policies, rhetoric

This isn’t Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s first rodeo leading a Democratic-leaning city with a Republican in the White House.

On the heels of Donald Trump winning the presidential election, Keller will be taking notes from his first two years as mayor — during Trump’s first term — to guide policy in the city while holding out limited optimism.

“We’ve been through a Trump administration before when I was mayor, and so we know some of the things that were tried,” Keller told the Journal on Thursday. “And so we’re going to be ready to just stand up for what our city believes in.”

Keller was first elected mayor in 2017 and assumed office in 2018, making him the head of the city for the last two years of the first Trump term.

“He also deserves a chance, so we’ll see what happens. I want to acknowledge it may be different this time around, but we’re going to make sure and protect everyone’s civil rights,” Keller said. “We’re going to make sure and stand up for folks who are disadvantaged, respect our culture and try and keep our community strong and together and unified.”

Since the election was called for Trump, Keller said his office has fielded phone calls from people worried about what a Trump presidency means for themselves or their relative’s citizenship status.

A couple cornerstones of Trump’s campaign were mass deportations and ending birthright citizenship. Despite this, Trump performed historically well with Latino voters and gained ground in New Mexico, although more New Mexicans voted for Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris than for her Republican challenger.

Bernalillo County saw support for Trump jump slightly, compared with 2020.

Cecilia Martinez, a spokesperson for Trump, did not respond to a request for comment.

During his first presidential term and even recently, Keller’s administration has put measures in place intended to buffer Trump’s policies.

In 2018, Albuquerque strengthened its status as a sanctuary city when the City Council, with the mayor’s signature and approval, passed an ordinance that prohibited the city from asking about a person’s citizenship status and prohibited the Albuquerque Police Department from enforcing federal immigration law.

Keller also said that the city had to fight the Trump administration from time to time to hold on to grants.

“That’s where our legal team will be involved. That money is rightfully Albuquerque’s, and so we’re gonna fight for it, and we’re not gonna let politics get in the way,” Keller said.

One notable grant the city fought for was Operation Relentless Pursuit, a crime fighting effort launched in December 2019 by the U.S. Department of Justice deployed in seven cities, one of which was Albuquerque.

However, the funding to Albuquerque was delayed, which city leaders suspected was done because of political squabbling.

APD Chief Harold Medina, who was deputy chief at the time, told the Journal in February 2020, “They’re trying to give us limitations of how we can access this federal funding that we need to help keep the citizens of Albuquerque safe.”

The funding was awarded in May 2020.

In 2019, the Keller administration billed the Trump campaign for his stay in Albuquerque before a rally in Rio Rancho. Typically, the administration does not bill elected officials and could not provide examples of other campaigns it has billed.

The balance has remained unpaid and Trump’s team was denied use of the Convention Center for his Oct. 31 New Mexico rally, in part because of the outstanding balance from 2019, Keller admitted on the eve of the rally.

The day after the election, Keller posted on X: “As Mayor, I will always stand up for and serve every resident of our city. While many are anxious about what a second Trump presidency will mean, in ABQ we will continue to work together, respect one another, and fight for a better future for our families.”

He said he did so to send a message of unity and is most concerned about preserving the rhetoric, culture and respectful discourse he believes Albuquerque and New Mexico have.

“I think our state and our city has had a long history of building a community, despite our differences and despite our history, which is here actually very traumatic if you go way back,” Keller said. “I just want us to be grateful to live in Albuquerque because we resolve our differences in a way that is at least appropriate and peaceful and respectful.”

Trump will be inaugurated in January. Keller will be up for reelection the following November.