Eleven Candidates Running For Mayor; Seven Public Financed, 4 Private Financed; Not All Will Qualify For Ballot Nor Public Finance; Two Measured Finance Committees Formed: One For Mayor Tim Keller And One For Mayling Armijo 

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The number of candidates for running for Albuquerque Mayor has increased by two. There are now 11 candidates for mayor who have registered with the city clerk. The two additional candidates are businessman Daniel Chavez and political consultant Adeo Herrick. Seven of the candidates are publicly finance candidates and 4 are privately finance candidates.

The City Clerk’s link listing all 11 candidates for Mayor with candidate contact information financial disclosure is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-mayoral-race-candidates/64648147

Following is the listing of all 11 candidates for Mayor with known background information and links to their contact information, campaign web pages and campaign donation information on their candidacies:

  1. MAYLING ARMIJO

Democrat Mayling Armijo is a former Deputy County Manager for Sandoval County. She is an  Albuquerque native and  was the first to announce.  On her campaign website, she lists her priorities as crime, housing and homelessness, substance abuse, job growth, and setting term limits for the mayor’s office.  She proclaims that she is not a politician and offers very little specifics on how she will bring down crime. Her experience includes working as economic development director for Bernalillo County, the deputy County Manager for Sandoval County and work with the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Armijo is the only privately financed candidate.

A link to a news source on Mayling Armijo’s announcement is here:

https://abq.news/2025/02/former-county-economic-development-manager-first-to-announce-run-for-mayor/

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on Mayling Armijo:

DATE REGISTERED: February 3, 2025

No campaign chairperson listed.

Treasurer: Sulema Lenz

  1. EDDIE VARELA

Eddie Varela is a Republican and is a retired Albuquerque firefighter and former California fire chief. Varela’s campaign website lists six issues, including safety, homelessness, transparency, seniors, youth and small businesses. Varela said he wants to restore public safety, rebuild trust in the government and revitalize the economy.

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/eddie-varela-joins-race-for-albuquerque-mayor/

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

Following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on EDDIE VARELA:

DATE REGISTERED: February 21, 2025

Campaign Chairperson: Audra L Salinas

Treasurer: Audra L Salinas

     3. PATRICK SAIS

Republican Patrick Sais ran for election to the New Mexico House of Representatives to represent District 26 in 2024 and lost in the general election on November 5, 2024. He ran for Mayor in 2021 and has no experience working in municipal government. He is a small business owner, retired truck driver and school bus driver and he went to Albuquerque High School. His campaign website (Sais4mayor@yahoo.com)  states that he’s focused on “enhancing public safety, improving educational opportunities and promoting sustainable economic growth”.

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on Patrick Sais:

DATE REGISTERED: February 27, 2025

  • Publicly Financed (Withdrew Application)
  • Campaign address: 11012 Suffolk Avenue SW Albuquerque, NM 87121
  • Campaign phone number: 505-584-9075
  • Campaign email: Sais4mayor@yahoo.com
  • Campaign website: Not provided.
  • Campaign Finances: View Candidate Disclosure

No campaign chairperson listed.

Treasurer: Gina Padilla

   4.   DARREN WHITE

Republican Darren White is a  former Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Public Safety for then Republican Governor Gary Johnson. White is a former two term Bernalillo County Sheriff and former Albuquerque Chief Public Safety Officer under Republican Mayor Richard Berry. In 2008, White was the Republican nominee for US Congress in New Mexico’s 1st congressional district facing then Albuquerque City Councilman Martin Heinrich. Heinrich defeated White in a landslide with Heinrich elected with 55.5% to Whites 44.5%.

The link to a news source for Darren White announcing for Mayor is here:

https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/darren-white-to-run-for-albuquerque-mayor/

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on Darren White:

DATE REGISTERED: March 6, 2025

No campaign chairperson listed.

Treasurer: Sal Baragiola

  1. TIM KELLER

Democrat Tim Keller is seeking a third 4 year term as Mayor and if successful would be the first to serve three consecutive terms. Voters elected Keller the first time in 2017 and then 2021. Keller is a former NM State Senator for the International District and a former New Mexico State Auditor. Keller says he is seeking a third term to complete the work on projects and programs he has started. Keller has said that his next term will focus on combating crime and homelessness while prioritizing redevelopment and housing, which is virtually identical to his last 4 years in office.

The link to a news source for Mayor Keller announcing for third term is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_c4a7a8c8-0035-11f0-a187-6f113c184756.html

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information is provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on TIM KELLER:

 DATE REGISTERED: March 12, 2025

No campaign chairperson listed.

Treasurer: Clara Hardgrave

  1. LOUIE SANCHEZ

Democrat Louie Sanchez is a first term District 1 City Councilor for the West side.  He is a retired APD Police Officer and was head of former Mayor Marty Chevez’s security detail.  He is the owner of the Louie Sanchez All State Insurance Agency.  Sanchez is up for re-election to the city council and is giving up his council seat to run for Mayor. Sanchez’s campaign website calls for “safer communities,” “a stronger community” and “solutions for homelessness.”

The link to a news source on Councilor Louie Sanchez announcing for Mayor is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_92e5ea94-a46d-424a-9823-3602cda945e3.html

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page for Louie Sanchez :

DATE REGISTERED: April 7, 2025

No campaign chairperson listed

Treasurer: Rob Mangone

  1. ALPANA ADAIR

ALPANA ADAIR has been in Albuquerque since May 2023.  Her party affiliation is listed as “other / DTs” and she first registered to vote in March, 2023. She has voted one time in the 2024 general election. She previously worked for a hospitality consulting firm before moving to Albuquerque. She is a Human Resources Consultant, a Communications Strategist and a Screenwriter.  She states her current  job is as a hotel business and Human Resources consultant for Hotel Profitability Advisors (HPA).  On her campaign website, she states that she wants to reduce juvenile crime, create more jobs, and improve residents’ quality of life.  She highlights on her campaign web site a platform of  goals and including  “Raise the Bar”, “Unite Our Communities For a Common Goal”, “Set Higher Standards for Excellence in Albuquerque”, “Empower Citizens To Actively Participate in Change”.

(https://votemayoradair.com/about-me/ )

The link to a quoted or relied upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/election/article_bef2d1a8-a6c9-4eb9-b3b7-1af214d9d37e.html

 CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on ALPANA ADAIR:

DATE REGISTERED: April 14, 2015

No campaign chairperson listed.

Treasurer: John Vieira

  1. BRIAN FEJER

Brian Fejer, party affiliation unknown, is an Albuquerque resident, and does not have a campaign website. Instead, he has a Substack blog entitled “La Politica” with a post called “Brian Fejer for ABQ Mayor 2025,” which has the subheading “This is satire.” He has  a FACEBOOK page (https://www.facebook.com/brianfejer/).  According to his FACEBOOK profile he is a “Digital Creator”, he is from Albuquerque and went to Manzano High School, and his FACEBOOK page shows no work history. On his blog, Fejer says he would declare a “public mental health emergency,” focusing on the fentanyl crisis. He also calls for the creation of an Albuquerque subway system without any mention of how it would be financed with the cost likely to be in the billions of dollars.

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on BRIAN FEJER:

DATE REGISTERED: April 6, 2025

No campaign chairperson listed.

Treasurer: John Reiser

  1. ALEXANDER M. M. UBALLEZ

Democrat Alexander M. M. Uballez is the Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney who was fired by President Trump on Valentines Day February 14. Uballez is among more than 20 other U.S. Attorneys who were asked to step down and who were appointed by President Joe Biden. “Before leading the office, Uballez served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for six years. He also worked as a prosecutor in New Mexico’s 2nd Judicial District Court for three and a half years. He received a law degree from Columbia Law School in 2011. Although he has no experience as an elected official, Uballez [proclaims] his experience as a prosecutor, combined with his two years at the helm of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, would play a key role in addressing Albuquerque’s crime and public safety issues.”

The link to the quoted news source on the Uballez announcement is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/election/article_32b726a6-b9fa-421d-922e-8409a752c826.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

 The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on Alexander M. M. Uballez :

DATE REGISTERED: April 17, 2025

No Campaign manager listed.

Treasurer: Veronica Gonzales

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1

  1. DANIEL CHAVEZ

Republican Daniel Chavez was born and raised in Albuquerque. After graduating from the University of New Mexico with his bachelor’s degree in 1995, Daniel Chavez acquired the Albuquerque branch of Parking Company of America which is  the managing company of several parking lots in the city. Chavez is President of the company. He said if elected he would focus on making Albuquerque safer and creating economic opportunities. He is a privately financed candidate. On March 19, it was reported that Chavez announced he is running for Mayor but he did not register with the City Clerk until April 4, 2025.

https://www.koat.com/article/daniel-chavez-joins-crowded-field-in-mayors-race/64223704

CANDIDATE CONTACT INFORMATION

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on Daniel Chavez:

DATE REGISTERED: April 4, 2025.

DATE REGISTERED:  April 4, 2025.

No Campaign manager listed.

Treasurer:  Greg Gallegos

  1. ADEO HERRICK

Democrat Adeo Herrick is known to be a political consultant and activist.

The following is the candidate information provided on the City Clerk’s candidate web page on Adeo Herrick:

No Campaign manager listed.

Treasurer: Cristine Ezell

MEASURED FINCANCE COMMITEES FORMED

There are two measured finance committees that have been formed to promote candidates. One is SAFER ALBUQUERQUE COMMITTEE (SAFER ABQ) to promote Mayling Armijo. The second is SAFER ALBUQUERQUE COMMITTEE (SAFER ABQ)  to promote Mayor Keller.

  1. SAFER ALBUQUERQUE COMMITTEE (SAFER ABQ)

According to the City Clerk’s candidate website, the following Measured Finance Committee has been created to advocate Mayling Armijo for Mayor: SAFER ALBUQUERQUE COMMITTEE (SAFER ABQ)

Purpose: To advocate for Mayling Armijo’s candidacy for mayor during the Albuquerque 2025 mayoral race and align with values that reduce crime, reduce homelessness, and promote job growth.

CONTACT INFORMATION

  • Chairperson: Charles M. Rolison
  • Address: P.O. Box 4004 Albuquerque, NM 87196
  • Phone number: 505-975-4899
  • Email: info@saferabq.com
  • Website: saferabq.com

The link to the Measured Finance Campaign Disclosure Statement for Safer Albuquerque Committee (Safer ABQ) reports is as follows:

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/#/exploreCommitteeDetail/M3FjOgNU2Z3h9u5VXBTrEgpRrh19RviUIoO4CmCWDAE1/null/null/2/2025

  1. ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE

According to the City Clerks Candidate website, the following Measured finance committee has been created to promote  Mayor Tim Keller:  ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE

Purpose: To support the election of Tim Keller as Mayor of Albuquerque

CONTACT INFORMATION

  • Chairperson: Michelle Mayorga
  • Address: 300 Tijeras Avenue NE Apt. 100 Albuquerque, NM 87102
  • Phone number: 505-270-4079
  • Email: sfitzer139@gmail.com
  • Website: N/A
  • Campaign Finances: View MFC Disclosure

The link to the Measured Finance Campaign Disclosure Statement for ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/#/exploreCommitteeDetail/VMQvJiHXaP1z-Iz2eL_papP4048PFnxLXRUfdOLcQk01/null/null/2/2025

QUALIFYING NOMINATING SIGNATURES

All eleven candidates must collect at least 3,000 qualifying nominating petition signatures from  April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025, a mere 9 weeks. Each signature must come from registered voters in the Albuquerque area. The city clerks will go through each one of those signatures to confirm their registration and candidates can challenge each other’s signatures for disqualification. The signatures of people who sign the nomination petitions and who are not actually registered voters are tossed and are not counted. It is expected that upwards 3 of the candidates running will no be able to secure the 3,000 qualifying signatures.

PUBLIC FINANCE QUALIFYING DONATIONS

Seven of the eleven candidates running for Mayor are “public financed” candidates: Eddie Varela, Darren White, Tim Keller, Louis Sanchez, Alpana Adair, Alexander Uballez and Adeo Herrick.  Patrick Sais withdrew his application for public finance and is now considered a privately financed candidate.

The single most difficult task for candidates who are publicly financed candidates will be the collection of 3,780 qualifying donations of $5.00 each to secure $755,946 in city financing. The candidates are given from  April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025, a mere 9 weeks  to collect the 3,780 qualifying donations from registered Albuquerque voters. The city clerks will go through each one of the donations to confirm their registration within the city limits. It is more likely than not that at least 3 of the candidates will not be able to collect the necessary donations and will be forced to go with private financing if they secure the requisite nominating petition signatures.

If a candidate does not collect the full 3,780 qualifying donations, those donations collected revert to the city and not to a candidate’s campaign. The failing  candidate to collect 3,780 qualifying donation can declare to be a privately finance candidate and solicit private campaign donation funding until election day November 5.

PRIVATELY FINANCE CANDIDATES

 Four of the eleven candidates private financed candidates: Mayling Armijo, Patrick Sais, Brian Fejer and Daniel Chavez.

Privately financed candidates were allowed to commence collecting campaign donations on April 19 and can do so up an until election day of November 5. Unlike publicly financed candidates, who may only spend the funds given to them by the City and agree to a spending cap, privately financed candidates have no fundraising or spending limits. There are, however, limits on individual contributions. Specifically, Article XIII, Section 4(d) limits the total contributions, including in-kind contributions, from any one person (with the exception of the candidate himself or herself).

The following limits per individual or corporation or entity are  in effect:

“Limits to Contributions. No privately financed candidate shall, for any one election, allow total contributions, including in-kind contributions, from any one person with the exception of contributions from the candidate themselves of more $6,000 for Mayoral Candidates.”

 COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

With a total of eleven candidates running for Mayor, the real hard part has begun  for them to get on the ballot and collect nominating signature to be placed on the ballot and to collect the $5.00 qualifying donations if they are public financed. Unless the candidate has a strong volunteer base or has set up on line system to collect both signatures and donations, it is not  likely they will not succeed with both tasks. Nominating petition signatures are far easier to collect than the $5.00 qualifying donations. Simply put, most people do not like to contribute to political campaigns.

With as many a 11candidates for Mayor, its obvious Mayor Keller has a tough challenge on his hands to get re-elected. The odds are there’s going to be a runoff.  It takes 50% of the vote to win and if one candidate does not get 50%, a runoff is held between the top two vote getters.

What’s going to happen is a lot of the candidates who are running do not  necessarily expect to win outright so they hope to take one of the top two positions. If they get into the runoff, they can have a 50-50 chance of winning. The race will easily come down to a referendum on Mayor Keller’s job performance over his two terms in office. Will people think it’s time for a change, or will people think that the mayor has progressed enough that it’s worth giving him a third term and another 4 years?

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About

Pete Dinelli was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is of Italian and Hispanic descent. He is a 1970 graduate of Del Norte High School, a 1974 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a 1977 graduate of St. Mary's School of Law, San Antonio, Texas. Pete has a 40 year history of community involvement and service as an elected and appointed official and as a practicing attorney in Albuquerque. Pete and his wife Betty Case Dinelli have been married since 1984 and they have two adult sons, Mark, who is an attorney and George, who is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Pete has been a licensed New Mexico attorney since 1978. Pete has over 27 years of municipal and state government service. Pete’s service to Albuquerque has been extensive. He has been an elected Albuquerque City Councilor, serving as Vice President. He has served as a Worker’s Compensation Judge with Statewide jurisdiction. Pete has been a prosecutor for 15 years and has served as a Bernalillo County Chief Deputy District Attorney, as an Assistant Attorney General and Assistant District Attorney and as a Deputy City Attorney. For eight years, Pete was employed with the City of Albuquerque both as a Deputy City Attorney and Chief Public Safety Officer overseeing the city departments of police, fire, 911 emergency call center and the emergency operations center. While with the City of Albuquerque Legal Department, Pete served as Director of the Safe City Strike Force and Interim Director of the 911 Emergency Operations Center. Pete’s community involvement includes being a past President of the Albuquerque Kiwanis Club, past President of the Our Lady of Fatima School Board, and Board of Directors of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation.