On November 4, 2025, the municipal elections for Albuquerque Mayor and City Council will be on the ballot. Of the nine-member city council, the 5 odd number City Council Districts 1,3,5,7, and 9 will be on the ballot.
Initially, there were a total of 16 candidates running for the 5 City Council seats with 13 seeking public finance and 3 privately financed.
All Candidates for City Council were required to gather 500 verified nominating petition signatures from registered voters within the district the candidate wishes to represent. The nominating petition collection period was from June 2, 2025, at 8:00am to July 7, 2025, at 5:00pm.
A total of 12 out of 16 candidates made the ballot by collecting the required 500 verified qualifying signatures .
Applicant candidates for public finance were required to receive Qualifying Contributions from 1% of the registered voters in the district the candidate wishes to represent. The actual amount of public finance given to a candidate by the city if they qualify for public finance varies in each council district and an amount is given for each registered voter.
The Public Finance qualifying contribution period for city council candidates was also from June 2, to July 7, 2025 where candidates were allowed to collect $5.00 donations to qualify for public financing. The number of $5.00 qualifying donations for public finance varies in each council district based upon the number of registered voters.
A total of 6 candidates qualified for public finance. The 6 who qualified for public finance are all 4 incumbents and two first time candidates in District 1 who qualified for public finance.
A total of 6 candidates are privately financed candidates with 3 running against incumbents who have qualified for public finance,
This blog article provides an update of the status of the city council candidates who have made the ballot and who have qualified for public finance as of July 10 at 6:00 a.m. and as posted by the City Clerk on the city website.
The city council candidates who have qualified for the ballot and public finance in each district are as follows:
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
District 1 City Council District is currently represented by first term Democrat City Councilor Louie Sanchez who did not seek reelection and who is one of 7 candidates running for Mayor. City Council District 1 is the centrally located Westside District between City Council District 5 on the North represented by Republican Dan Lewis and City Council District 3 on the South represented by Democrat Klarissa Pena. The geographical borders generally include Central Avenue on the South, Coors and the Rio Grande River on the East and “zig zags” on the North to include Atrisco Dr., Tesuque Dr. and Buterfield Trail and with the West border jetting outwards to the city limits and vacant land.
Three out of 4 District 1 City Council candidates have qualified for the ballot having collected more than 100% of the required 500 nominating petition signatures and one candidate appears to have failed to qualify for the ballot having secured 99% of the nominating signatures and falling short by 7. The 3 city Council Candidates who have qualified for the ballot are:
- AHREN GRIEGO
- DANIEL LEIVA
- JOSHUA TAYLOR NEIL
The one City Council Candidate who ostensibly has failed to collect the required 500 qualifying donations by 7 is Stephanie Telles and she will not appear on the ballot. She does have the option to demand an audit of all the signatures the city clerk reject that she submitted in the hopes of finding errors in those signatures rejected. Stephanie Telles also failed to collect the 450 required qualifying $5.00 donations and collected 362 verified donations and 80% of those required falling short by 88.
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 1 is 450. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 1 is $56,311.25. Two City Council candidates in District 1 have qualified for public finance having collected more than the 450 qualifying donations and they are:
- AHREN GRIEGO
- DANIEL LEIVA
The third candidate to make the balot Joshua Neil is a privately finance candidate.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 TABULATIONS OF VERIFIED SIGNATURES AND QUALIFYING DONATIONS
Following are the tabulations posted by the City Clerk for both nominating petition signatures and qualifying $5.000 donations for public finance for the District 1 candidates:
- AHREN GRIEGO (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 729
- Rejected Petition Signatures 372
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 450
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 507
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 61
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed -0-
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 100%
- DANIEL GILBER LEIVA (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 873
- Rejected Petition Signatures 620
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 450
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 492
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 69
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed -0-
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 100%
3. JOSHUA TAYLOR NEAL (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 545
- Rejected Petition Signatures 59
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 450
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 18
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions -0-
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 432
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 4%
4. STEPHANIE TELLES (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 493
- Rejected Petition Signatures 80
- Remaining Petition Signatures 7
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 99%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 450
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 362
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 24
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 88
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions 80%
The link to the City Clerk web page to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3
District 3 is currently represented by Klarissa Peña and she is running for a fourth term. The district is considered safe democrat. The geographic borders are generally “Old Coors Road” on the East and the Valley area, Central on the North, and Dennis Chavez Road on the South, with the West side border jetting out to the city limits and mostly vacant area.
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 3 is 335. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 3 is $41,865.00.
Three out of four District 3 City Council candidates have qualified for the ballot having collected more than 100% of the required 500 nominating petition signatures. The 3 city council candidates in District 3 who will appear on the ballot are:
- KLARISSA PEÑA (Incumbent)
- CHRISTOPHER R. SEDILLO
- TERESA GARCIA
Natalie Saldana failed to qualify for the ballot and is listed by the City clerk as dropping out of the race and not collecting qualifying $5.00 donations.
Only incumbent KLARISSA PEÑA qualified for public finance having collected more than the 335 qualifying donations and she will be given $41,865.00 in public finance. City Council candidates Christopher R. Sedillo and Teresa Garcia are privately finance candidates having failed to collect the required number of qualifying donations and becoming privately financed.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3 TABULATIONS OF VERIFIED SIGNATURES AND QUALIFYING DONATIONS
Following are the tabulations posted by the City Clerk for both nominating petition signatures and qualifying $5.000 donations for public finance for the District 3 candidates:
- KLARISSA PEÑA (Incumbent) (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 557
- Rejected Petition Signatures 192
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 335
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 355
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 49
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed -0-
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 100%
- CHRISTOPHER R. SEDILLO (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 610
- Rejected Petition Signatures 144
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 335
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 154
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 9
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 181
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 46%
The City Clerk lists Christopher R. Sedillo as withdrawing from public finance and as a private fiancé candidate.
3. TERESA GARCIA (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 520
- Rejected Petition Signatures 179
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 335
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 73
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions -1-
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 362
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 22%
- NATALIA SALDANA
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 34
- Rejected Petition Signatures 31
- Remaining Petition Signatures 466
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 7%
The City Clerk has stricken Natalia Saldana as a candidate collecting qualifying signatures.
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
Natalia Saldana withdrew from public financing and collected no public finance donations.
The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 5
District 5 is the city’s northwest quadrant council district which is currently represented by Dan Lewis who is seeking a fourth term on the city council.
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 5 is 446. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 5 is $55,718,75.
https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/publicly-financed-candidates
Two City Council candidates have qualified for the ballot in District 5 having collected more than 100% of the required 500 nominating petition signatures. The two candidates in District 5 who have qualified for the ballot are:
- Republican Incumbent Dan Lewis
- Democrat Athena Allen
Republican Incumbent Dan Lewis has qualified for public finance and has collected more than 446 qualifying donations and will be given $55,718,75 in public finance.
Democrat Athena Allen is a privately financed candidate.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 5 TABULATIONS OF VERIFIED SIGNATURES AND QUALIFYING DONATIONS
Following are the tabulations posted by the City Clerk for both nominating petition signatures and qualifying $5.000 donations for public finance for the District 5 city council candidates:
- DAN LEWIS (Incumbent) Publicly Financed
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 546
- Rejected Petition Signatures 6
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 446
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 471
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 1
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed -0-
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 100%
- ATHENEA ALLEN (Privately Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 550
- Rejected Petition Signatures 40
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
Athena Allen is a privately financed candidate and therefor collected no $5.00 qualifying donations.
The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 7
District 7 is the mid heights city council district currently represented by first term Democrat City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn. The district includes the uptown retail business district including the Commons, Winrock and Coronado Shopping Center. The District boundaries are generally Montgomery Boulevard on the North, I-25 on the West, Lomas on the South and Eubank on the East.
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 7 is 466. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 7 is $58,205.00.
https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/publicly-financed-candidates
Democrat Incumbent City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn is the only incumbent running unopposed. She has secured 100% of the required nominating petitions signatures and 100% of the required $5.00 donations for public finance. Feibelkorn will be given $58,205.00 to run her campaign. The fact she is unopposed would dictate that there is no need for public finance and she should consider declining the public finance funding.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 7 TABULATIONS OF VERIFIED SIGNATURES AND QUALIFYING DONATIONS
Following are the tabulations posted by the City Clerk for both nominating petition signatures and qualifying $5.000 donations for public finance for District 7 incumbent City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn:
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 612
- Rejected Petition Signatures 38
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 466
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 491
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 10
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed -0-
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 100%
The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 9
City Council District 9 is often referred to as the Four Hills area city council district and is currently represented by first term Republican City Councilor Renee Grout who is seeking a second term. Grout has 4 opponents. The District is very condensed and safe Republican. The Northern border is Menaul, the West border is Eubank, the Southern border is Dennis Ave, SE and the East border is the Sandia foothills federal land.
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 9 is 416. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 9 is $51,957.50.
Originally there were 5 candidates running for District 9 City Council. Three City Council candidates have qualified for the ballot in District 9 having collected more than 100% of the required 500 nominating petition signatures. The three candidates in District 9 who have qualified for the ballot are:
- Incumbent Republican Renee Grout
- Democrat Melani Buchanan Farmer
- Colton Alan Newman (Party affiliation unknown)
Republican Incumbent City Councilor Renee Grout has secured 100% of the required nominating petitions signatures and 100% of the required $5.00 donations for public finance and she will be on the ballot and will be given $51,957.50 to run her campaign.
Melani Buchanan Farmer has secured more than 100% of the 500 qualify petitions signatures and has qualified for the ballot. Buchannan is a privately finance candidate and therefor collected no qualifying $5.000 donations
Colton Alan Newman has secured more than 100% of the 500 qualifying petition signatures and will appear on the ballot. With only 2% of Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions collected, Colton Alan Newman will not qualify for public financing and is now a privately financed candidate.
The two city council candidates who were running and who have been struck as candidates by the city clerk and who ostensibly withdrew from the race are:
- Anami Dass
- Byron Powdrell
Confidential sources have confirmed that candidate Byron Powdrell withdrew from the race for city council and has decided to run for Bernalillo County Commission against incumbent Eric Olivas.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 9 TABULATIONS OF VERIFIED SIGNATURES AND QUALIFYING DONATIONS
Following are the tabulations posted by the City Clerk for both nominating petition signatures and qualifying $5.000 donations for public finance for the District 5 city council candidates:
- RENEE GROUT (Incumbent) PUBLICLY FINANCED
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 540
- Rejected Petition Signatures 9
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 416
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 447
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 8
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed -0-
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 100%
- MELANI BUCHANAN FARMER (PRIVATELY FINANCED)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 530
- Rejected Petition Signatures 39
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
Melani Farmer Buchanan is a privately financed and there are no qualifying donations to report.
3. COLTON ALAN NEWMAN (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 520
- Rejected Petition Signatures 120
- Remaining Petition Signatures -0-
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 100%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 416
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 8
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions -0-
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 408
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 2%
Colton Alan Newman qualified for the ballot and collected 100% of the qualifying signatures but he failed to collect the required 416 qualifying donations and is now a privately financed candidate.
4 . ANAMI DASS (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 27
- Rejected Petition Signatures 9
- Remaining Petition Signatures 473
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 5%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 416
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 2
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions -0-
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 414
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 0%
On July 3, the City Clerk listed Anami Dass as no longer a candidate with all statistical data lined through.
5. BYRON K. POWDRELL (Publicly Financed)
PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES
- Required Petition Signatures 500
- Verified Petition Signatures 234
- Rejected Petition Signatures 49
- Remaining Petition Signatures 266
- % of Verified Petition Signatures Met 47%
QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS
- Required Qualifying Contributions 416
- Verified Qualifying Contributions 28
- Rejected Qualifying Contributions 1
- Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed 388
- % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed 7%
On July 10, the City Clerk listed Byron Powdrell as no longer a candidate with all statistical data lined through. .
The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
All four incumbent City Councilors have secured ballot positions and have qualified for public fiancé. Three of the incumbent City Councilors have opposition who have qualified for the ballot and with 3 opponents who are privately financed. One City Councilor has qualified both for the ballot and is unopposed. Three candidates who have never run for office before have qualified for the ballot to fill the open District 1 seat with two of those candidates qualifying for public finance. A total of 6 candidates have qualified for public finance and a total of 6 candidates are privately financed candidates.
The fact that all 4 incumbent City Councilors have qualified both for the ballot and public public finance is evidence of the power of incumbency. All four incumbents qualified for public finance as all other candidates seeking public finance struggled and failed in their efforts. It’s a clear indication that the public finance system favors incumbents and discourages opposition.
The campaigns for city council will now completely engage and get serious as each candidates competes for votes. Congratulations to all the candidates who are running for city council and thank you for the time and effort and service to this community. Best wishes to all the candidates.