There are 11 candidates who have registered with the City Clerk as candidates running for Mayor. The candidates listed in order by the City Clerk on the candidate web page are:
- Mayling Armijo
- Eddie Varela
- Patrick Sais
- Darren White
- Timothy Keller
- Louie Sanchez
- Alpana Adair
- Brian Fejer
- Alexander M. M. Uballez
- Daniel Chavez
- Adeo Herrick
PROCESSED PETITION SIGNATURES
All eleven candidates must collect at least 3,000 qualifying nominating petition signatures from April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025 to secure a ballot positon. Each signature must come from registered voters in the Albuquerque area. City clerk’s go through each one of the signatures to confirm their registration. 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.
Following is the breakdown of petition signatures collected by the 11 candidates as of June 13, 2025 as tabulated and verified by the city clerk:
DANIEL CHAVEZ
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 3,427
- Rejected Petition Signatures 2,338
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed -0-
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
TIMOTHY KELLER
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 3,424
- Rejected Petition Signatures 592
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed -0-
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
ALEXANDER UBALLEZ
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 3,281
- Rejected Petition Signatures 621
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed -0-
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
EDDIE VARELA
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 3,510
- Rejected Petition Signatures 992
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed -0-
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
LOUIE SANCHEZ
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 2,981
- Rejected Petition Signatures 1,345
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed 19
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 99%
MAYLING ARMIJO
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 2,358
- Rejected Petition Signatures 1,160
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed 642
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 79%
DARREN WHITE
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 2,268
- Rejected Petition Signatures 167
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed 732
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 76%
PATRICK SAIS
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 975
- Rejected Petition Signatures 950
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed 2,025
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 32%
BRIAN FEJER
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 77
- Rejected Petition Signatures -0-
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed 2,923
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 3%
ALPANA ADAIR
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 28
- Rejected Petition Signatures 19
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed 2,972
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 1%
ADEO HERRICK
- Required Petition Signatures 3,000
- Verified Petition Signatures 38
- Rejected Petition Signatures 28
- Remaining Petition Signatures Needed 2,962
- Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 1%
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Out of 11 candidates for mayor, the following 4 have qualified for ballot and have collected 100% of the required verified qualifying signatures as of June 13, 2025:
- DANIEL CHAVEZ
- TIMOTHY KELLER
- ALEXANDER UBALLEZ
- EDDIE VARELA
With 8 days left to collect qualifying signatures, the following additional 3 will likely qualify for the ballot:
- LOUIE SANCHEZ (Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 99%, 19 signatures remaining needed)
- MAYLING ARMIJO (Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 79%, 642 signatures remaining needed)
- DARREN WHITE (Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 76%, 732 signatures remaining needed).
With 8 days left to collect qualifying signatures, the following 4 will likely NOT qualify for the ballot:
- PATRICK SAIS (Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met: 32%, Remaining Petition Signatures needed 2,327)
- BRIAN FEJER (Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 3%, remaining Petition Signatures Needed 2,923)
- ALPANA ADAIR (Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 1%, remaining petition signatures Needed 2,972)
- ADEO HERRICK (Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met 1%, remaining petition signatures needed 2,962)
PROCESSED QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS
Public finance candidates must collect 3,780 donations of $5.00 to the city from registered voters to qualify for the city to give them $755,946 in city financing for their campaigns. The time frame to collect both nominating petition signatures and $5.00 qualifying contributions is the same and it is from April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025, a mere 64 days.
Originally, 8 candidates declared as public finance candidates. Now there are 2 with 6 withdrawing their applications for public finance with those 6 now private financed candidates.
The 8 original candidates who declared themselves to be “public finance” candidates are Alpana Adair, Alexander Uballez, Darren White, Tim Keller, Louis Sanchez, Edie Varella, Patrick Sais and Adeo Herrick. Six candidates have now withdrawn their application for public finance
The only two candidates who are still declared public financed candidates are Tim Keller and Adeo Henrick.
Adeo Herrick has collected 0% of the qualifying $5.00 donations and 1% of the required nominating petition signatures and it is safe to assume that Herrick is not a serious candidate and has likely dropped out of the race.
The following are the processed public finance qualifying donations for Tim Keller as of Friday June 13:
TIMOTHY KELLER
- Required Qualifying Contributions 3,780
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 3,688
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 312
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 92
- Percentage of Verified Qualifying Contributions Met 98%
COMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
With 8 days left to collect qualifying $5.00 and with Keller having collected 98% of the donations and with only 92 remaining to be collected, Keller will be the only candidate to qualify for public finance and will be given by the city $755,946 to run his campaign.
As for Keller’s opponents, all are relegated to scrambling for private financing unless they are wealthy enough to self-finance. It’s unknown how they will do with private fundraising but we will soon see as campaign finance reports are required. The only candidate that likely has the ability to private finance his own campaign is Parking Company of America CAO Daniel Chavez who has already donated $100,000 of his personal money to finance the collection of the ballot qualifying nominating signatures.
THREE MEASURED FINANCE COMMITEES FORMED FOR MAYOR’S RACE
Under the City of Albuquerque’s campaign finance laws, a Measure Finance Committee (MFC) is a political action committee (PAC), person or group that supports or opposes a candidate or ballot measure within the City of Albuquerque. Measure finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates. Any Measure Finance Committee can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of a candidate or in opposition to a candidate.
Measured finance committees are strictly prohibited from coordinating their activities with candidates and their campaigns. It is a very grey area as to what constitutes coordinating campaigns when friends, family and business associates and people who do business with the city are comingled with both the candidates campaigns, make donations and the measured finance committee fundraising and activities .
In the 2025 municipal election, three measured finance Committees have been formed to help and support Mayling Armijo, Tim Keller and Eddie Varela. The 3 measured finance committees and what they have raised thus far as of June 13 are:
- SAFER ALBUQUERQUE COMMITTEE (SAFER ABQ) formed for the 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.”
As of June 13, this measured finance committee has raised $120,080 in total contributions and has made $41,466.90 in total expenditures and has a cash balance of $78,613. A total of 53 expenditures have been made for “advertising” with 13 payments made to LINKEDIN and 22 payments made to FACEBOOK.
Chairperson: CHARLES M. ROLISON Treasurer: KATRINA TRACY. The top Contributors listed in the financial disclosure for the SAFER ALBUQUERQUE COMMITTEE (SAFER ABQ) are:
- Chauling Mary Armijo $40,000
- Katrina Tracy $40,000
- Four Winds Mechanical HTC/AC Inc $40,000
- Charles Rolison $80.00
Chauling Mary Armijo is believed to be the owner and chief executive officer of Four Winds Mechanical HTC/AC and she is the sister of candidate Mayling Armijo.
- ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE formed for the purpose “To support the election of Tim Keller as Mayor of Albuquerque.”
As of June 13, this measured finance committee has raised $38,500 in total contributions and has made $14,050.92 in total expenditures and has a cash balance of $24,449.08.
$24,449.08. CHAIRPERSON: Michelle Mayorga. TREASURER: Sean Marcus.
The chairperson for ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE is well known progressive Democrat and politcal consultant Michelle Mayorga who is a partner with GBOA, a public opinion research, political strategy and consulting firm based out of Washington, DC. Michelle Mayorga has spent two decades in progressive politics — recruiting, managing, and training candidates and organizers at all levels. Her clients have included Democratic candidates around the country, such as Senator Ben Ray Luján (NM), Reps. Colin Allred (TX-32), Andrea Salinas (OR-6), and Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-3) as well as Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
The email address for this measured finance committee is sfitzer139@gmail.com. This email address is believed to be that of Steve Fitzer who is a highly respected and well known politcal fundraiser and strategist for successful democratic candidates for office. Steve Fitzer is Vice President of Strategies 360 in the New Mexico office which is a politcal strategies and fundraising company. “Fitzers career in politics and campaigns spans over three decades. From city council races to presidential races, he has had experience at every size and reach of a campaign. For over the last 20 years his main focus has been fundraising.” You can read more about Mr. Fitzer in the link below:
Political Fundraiser and Strategist, Steve Fitzer, Joins Strategies 360
CONTRIBUTORS
As of June 13, major contributors to ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE listed are:
- Fresquez Concessions, Inc $15,000
- Edward Garcia $5,000
- Carlos Garcia $5,000
- Paul Wynn $5,000
- Texas Spine and Orthopedic Surgeons $2,500
- Randi McGinn $2,500
- Suresh Neelagan $2,500
- James C. Atkins $1,000
COMMENTARY ON CONTRIBUTORS
| “Fresquez Concessions, Inc.”, which is a part of “Fresquez Companies”, manages and operates the City of Albuquerque’s Airport concession contracts. The Chief Executive Officer of Fresquez Companies is Lenny Fresquez and his daughter Lee Anna Fresquez is the President of Fresquez Companies .
Edward Garcia is the Executive Chairman of the Garcia Automotive Family Dealerships and Carlos Garcia is a managing partner who oversee the group’s operations. In addition to the Garcia Automotive Dealerships, the Garcia family are major stakeholders in Albuquerque downtown real estate development. |
EXPENDITURES OF ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE
As of June 13, according to ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE financial expenditures report, the following expenditures with purpose listed have been made:
- April 15: $759 paid to Blue Print Public Affairs of Salt Lake, Utah for “fundraising.”
- May 1: $277: paid to “ACT Blue”, Somerville, MA, for “information”
- May 2: $3,000 paid to Blue Print Public Affairs of Salt Lake, Utah for “information.”
- May 21: $1,076.25 paid to Electronics In Motion, Shake He, Ohio for “professional”
- June 2: $1,076 paid to Electronics In Motion, Shake He, Ohio for “professional”
- May 30: $7,500 paid to Stanford Campaigns, Dallas, Texas for “other”
- June 1: $370 paid to “ACT Blue”, Somerville, MA, for “information”
- CIPGAW: Committee to Elect Eddie Varela Mayor of Albuquerque formed for the purpose to “Elect Eddie Varela Mayor of Albuquerque.”
As of June 13, the Finance Report states the measured finance committee has raised $5,000 in total contributions and reports $24.83 in total expenditures and has a cash balance of $4,975.17.
EXPENDITURES
The Finance Disclosure statement reflects a $24.83 expenditure to White Co Checks on May 22.
The Finance Disclosure statement reflects a monetary expenditure of $3,000 on June 6 listing as the reason “Varela, Ed” with no further explanation.
CHAIRPERSON: Bradley William Day TREASURER: Amanda Baca.
CONTRIBUTORS
As of June 13, the sole contributor to this measured finance committee is Bradley William Day who contributed $5,000 on May 14, 2025.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The purpose and intent of the city’s public financing system is to reduce the influence of large donors in local elections. Simply put, its a FALSE narrative with the existence of measured finance committees that can and will raise unlimited amounts of money and spend it on promoting a candidate.
The influence of “dark money” in elections as allowed by the US Supreme Court decision in Citizens United is destroying our democracy. Many highly qualified candidates for office all too often do not bother to run because of the inability or difficulty raising the necessary money to run. Political campaign fundraising and big money influence are warping our election process. Money spent becomes equated with the final vote. Money drives the message, affects voter turnout and ultimately the outcome of an election. Albuquerque municipal elections need campaign finance reform and enforcement. Voters are encouraged NOT to donate to any one of the 3 measured finance committees established to promote Mayling Armijo, Tim Keller and Eddie Varela.
Campaign finance reform and reform of the city’s public finance laws should become an issue in the 2025 Mayor’s race. The fact that only one candidate for Mayor will qualify for public finance this election year is clear evidence that the system has been set up for other candidates to fail and that it favors incumbents. That is why only Mayor Keller will qualify for public finance. The system favors incumbents such as Mayor Tim Keller who have high name identification and built in campaign organizations including city staff and a Mayor who holds two and three press conferences a day.
Until there is real reform of public finance laws, we can continue to expect only incumbents to qualify for public financing in elections for Mayor and thereby by giving the incumbent the upper hand and an unfair advantage over all those who run for the office. See the below POSTCRIPT on proposed changes to the city’s public finance system.
If Mayor Tim Keller is really committed to the city public finance and wants to “Walk The Talk” as he has said in the past, he would go out of his way to distance himself from ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE.
Keller should ask ASCEND ALBUQUERQUE organizers cease any efforts to raise donations to promote his candidacy. Asking Keller to condemn a measured finance committee promoting him is likely way too much to ask of an entrenched politician such as Keller and his greedy enablers and handlers who make lucrative livings off of public finance and the candidates they support.
Keller wants the best of both worlds of getting public finance and having a measured finance committee raise even more to promote him and he will be getting his wish!
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PROPOSED CHANGES TO CITY’S MEASURED FINANCE SYSTEM
The deficiencies in the city’s public financing have been repeatedly warned about over the last 14 years, at least by www.PeteDinelli.com, but have been ignored. Some of the changes advocated is reducing the number of qualifying donations to a more realistic number as well as increasing the time to collect the qualifying donations. Simply put, public finance laws should not be set up to make it too difficult to qualify for public financing and should have sufficient safeguards to police and prevent fraud.
The following changes to the City’s public finance system and election code are in order:
- Reduce the amount of the qualifying donation from $5.00 to $2.00.
- Double the amount of time from 64 days to 128 days to collect both the qualifying donations and petition signatures, and private campaign donation collection.
- Reduce the number of qualifying donations from 3,780 to a flat 2,000. Simply put, many voters loath making political donations of any kind.
- Strictly prohibit former campaign staff or family members of candidates from being allowed to run or fund measured finance committees.
- Allow the collection of the qualifying donations from anyone who wants, and not just residents or registered voters of Albuquerque. Privately finance candidates now can collect donations from anyone they want and anywhere in the State and Country.
- Once the allowed number of qualifying donations is collected, the public financing would immediately be made available, but not allowed to be spent until the date of closure of the collection process.
- Permit campaign spending for both publicly financed and privately financed candidates only from the date of closure of the collection process to the November election day.
- Return to candidates for their use in their campaign any qualifying donations the candidate has collected when the candidate fails to secure the required number of qualifying donations to get the public financing.
- Mandate the City Clerk to issue debit card or credit card collection devices to collect the qualifying donations and to issue receipts and eliminate the mandatory use of “paper receipts”. Continue to allow the collection of both nominating petition signature and $5.00 donations “on line.”
- Increase from $1.00 to $2.50 per registered voter the amount of public financing, which will be approximately $900,000, and allow for incremental increases of 10% every election cycle keeping up with inflation.
- Allow additional matching public financing available for run offs at the rate of $1.25 per registered voter, or $450,000.
- Albuquerque should make every effort to make municipal elections partisan elections to be held along with State and Federal elections by seeking a constitutional amendment from the legislature to be voted upon by the public.
- Any money raised and spent by measured finance committees on behalf a candidate should be required to first be applied to reimburse the City for any taxpayer money advanced to a public finance candidate or deducted from a publicly finance candidates account and returned to the city.
- City of Albuquerque campaign reporting and finance ordinances and regulations need to define with absolute clarity that strictly prohibit the coordination of expenditures and campaign activities with measured finance committees and individual candidate’s campaigns in municipal elections.
- A mandatory schedule of fines and penalties for violations of the code of ethics and campaign practices act should be enacted by the City Council.