Albuquerque voters will have five City Council contests to decide in the city’s November 4 election. The city council’s odd-numbered districts of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will all be on the ballot. District 1 is an open seat with 4 running for the seat while the incumbent Democrat has given up his seat to run for Mayor. The three incumbents in Districts 3, 5, and 9 have challengers who have qualified for the ballot. The Incumbent in District 7 has one challenger who will qualify as a write in candidate.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The State law and the Albuquerque City Charter mandates that all municipal elections for elected officials are to be non-partisan where party affiliation is not given after candidates’ names on the ballot. Notwithstanding, the reality is that Albuquerque’s municipal elections for elected officials have become very partisan with the political parties actively involved.
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2011/chapter3/article8/section3-8-29/
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-1/article-22/section-1-22-3/
The Local Election Act (LEA) was passed by the New Mexico Legislature in 2018. It allows for consolidated local elections in nonpartisan municipal elections to be conducted every November of the odd-numbers years with the county clerk to administer the elections. The city’s November 4 election for Mayor and city council will be conducted and administered by the Bernalillo County clerk. The link to the City Charter and Local Elections act is here:
https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/albuquerque/latest/albuqcharter/0-0-0-131
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-1/article-22/section-1-22-3/
The candidates listed below have filed Declarations of Candidacies with the City Clerk and the Bernalillo County Clerk with their nominating petition signatures verified and they will appear on the November 4 ballot.
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 Peña.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.
Four candidates running in 4 District 1 City Council have qualified for the ballot having collected 500 or more of the nominating petition signatures. The 4 City Council Candidates who have qualified for the ballot are:
AHREN GRIEGO
Democrat Ahern Griego was born and raised in Albuquerque and is a lifelong West Side resident of the city who retired after 23 years of service as a captain and station commander with Albuquerque Fire Rescue. He was educated at John Adams Middle School and is a graduate of West Mesa High School. He describes himself as a “tough on crime” but “smart on prevention” candidate on his campaign website. Griego hopes to address homelessness, foster small businesses and improve roads and other public infrastructure. Greigo has qualified for public campaign finance.
DANIEL LEIVA
If elected, Democrat Daniel Leiva hopes to address public safety, help small businesses and improve public infrastructure, according to his campaign website. Leiva graduated in May, 2024 from the University of New Mexico School of Law and received his bachelor’s degree from UNM in 2017. He has taken the New Mexico bar and is still awaiting the results. He is 29 years old, an Albuquerque native and has lived on the West Side for 25 years. He said on his website that he has worked in roofing with his grandfather and uncle and operates a small business. Leiva has qualified for public campaign funding.
JOSHUA TAYLOR NEAL
Republican Taylor Neal proclaims in a social media post that Albuquerque has “serious issues” with crime, homelessness and economic development, all of which would be his focus, if elected. Taylor Neal describes himself on his Facebook page as a Christian, hydrologic engineer and land developer, humanitarian relief worker and outdoorsman. Neal ran as a Republican in 2024 for the New Mexico House of Representatives in District 17, but lost in the general election to Rep. Cynthia Borrego. He ran for the same seat two years earlier, losing the Republican primary. Neal is a privately financed candidate.
STEPHANIE TELLES
Initially, Democrat Stephanie Telles was found by the City Clerk to have failed to collect the required 500 qualifying donations by 7 and she appealed for her disqualification. On August 28, 2025, the Bernalillo County Clerk notified Stephanie Telles by letter that the Bernalillo County Clerk had in fact qualified her Declaration of Candidacy and petition signatures and notified her that her name will appear on the ballot as a candidate for City Council District 1.
Telles has said on her campaign website that she hopes to improve community safety through civilian intervention programs such as the Albuquerque Community Safety Department, create more affordable housing, support programs for young people and seniors, boost economic development and upgrade roads. Telles describes herself as a caregiver, educator and small business owner. She founded a consulting business that works with nonprofits, businesses and government agencies. Her campaign is privately financed.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FINANCE CANDIDATES
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 1 was 450. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 1 is $56,311.25. Ahren Griego and Daniel Leiva have qualified for public finance. Candidates Joshua Neil and Stephanie Telles are privately finance candidates.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3
Three candidates are running to represent Southwest Albuquerque’s District 3. 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.
KLARISSA PEÑA
Democrat Klarissa Peña is the current District 3 City Councilor and she is running for a fourth term. If re-elected, Peña will focus on neighborhood infrastructure projects, like parks, outdoor spaces and community centers, she said in a social media post announcing her campaign. Peña was the City Council president in 2019 and now serves as the vice president. Prior to her election, Peña served as the executive director for the West Central Community Development Group and was a city of Albuquerque planning commissioner. Peña has qualified for public finance funding.
TERESA GARCIA
Democrat Teresa Garcia is running on the platform of protecting immigrant rights, updating infrastructure and promoting economic development, according to a campaign statement. Garcia is the chair of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Commission, and former chair of the Southwest Community Policing Council. She is a first-generation college graduate of UNM and longtime resident of Albuquerque’s Southwest Mesa. City Council candidate Teresa Garcia is privately finance candidate having failed to collect the required number of qualifying donations resulting in her becoming privately financed.
CHRISTOPHER SEDILLO
Democrat Christopher Sedillo is running for a second time for District 3 city council having run the first time four years ago. Sedillo grew up in the South Valley and graduated from Rio Rancho High School. Sedillo served in the U.S. Navy for 26 years, and since retirement has worked in advocacy for LGBTQ+ service members and other veterans’ groups. According to a campaign statement, Sedillo hopes to promote equality, community engagement and veteran support if elected. City Council candidate Christopher Sedillo is privately finance candidate having failed to collect the required number of qualifying donations and thereby becoming privately financed.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FINANCE CANDIDATES
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 3 was 335. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 3 is $41,865.00. Only incumbent Klarissa Peña qualified for public finance having collected more than the 335 qualifying donations and she has been given $41,865.00 in public finance. Candidates Christopher Sedillo and Teresa Garcia are privately financed candidates.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 5
District 5 is the city’s northwest quadrant council district in the northwest corner of the city and west of the river. The incumbent city councilor for District 5 is Republican City Councilor Dan Lewis. He is being challenged by Democrat Athena Allen.
DAN LEWIS
MAGA Republican Incumbent City Councilor Dan Lewis was the Founding Pastor of Soul Rio Community Church, where he served for over 15 years. As President of Desert Fuels, Inc., he helped the company become one of Albuquerque’s fastest-growing businesses and one of New Mexico’s top private companies. Lewis later founded Refined Fuels Transport, a successful transportation company that employed over 20 people in New Mexico. After selling the company, Dan Lewis took on the role of Director of Operations at Davidson Energy in 2019. Most recently, in January 2024, he was appointed Executive Director of the Asphalt Pavement Association of New Mexico, where he works with contractors, producers, and suppliers to improve the state’s roads and highways.
Lewis has served three terms on the city council. Lewis first served two consecutive terms from 2009-2017, then ran for Mayor in 2017 losing to Progressive Democrat Tim Keller in a landslide runoff. In 2021 he ran again and was elected to a third term to city council. Ahead of a potential fourth term, Lewis has four key priorities: community safety, road improvements, community infrastructure and economic growth, according to his campaign website. The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 5 was 446. Councilor Dan Lewis qualified for public financing and has been given $55,065.10 to run his campaign.
ATHENEA ALLEN
Democrat Athenea Allen has 18 years’ experience as a Senior Investigator specializing and conducting federal background investigations for numerous federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. She has 5 years of experience with Northrop-Grumman as a Security Lead and Program Specialist. She is currently the Site Security Lead/Security Lead Manager at General Dynamics Information and Technology. Allen is the wife of Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen and the couple have one son. As an elected city councilor, Athenia Allen hopes to address public safety, improve roads, and help working families. Athenea Allen is privately financed and she is conducting a “grass roots” campaign going door to door and conducting fund raisers.
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 7
District 7 is the mid heights city council district currently represented by first term Progressive 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.
TAMMY FIEBELKORN
Progressive Incumbent Democrat City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn was first elected to the City Council in 2021 in a runoff election. Fiebelkorn was born in Grants, NM and has lived in District 7 for over 20 years. She is the current Chair of the City Council’s Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee despite having no prior experience nor background in land use law and planning and zoning matters. During her tenure, she has concentrated on major initiatives focused on zoning changes to the city’s zoning laws to increase density throughout the city, to increase affordable housing, sponsored ordinances affecting renters and property owners rights and remedies, supported increasing assistance and shelter for the unhoused, including city sanctioned safe outdoor space encampments for the homeless. She is considered a vocal and staunch animal rights advocate on the City Council. Prior to being elected to the City Council, she worked with the City of Albuquerque on numerous projects, including funding and implementing low-income energy efficiency retrofits in disadvantaged neighborhoods, updating the city’s Energy Conservation Code, developing coordinated positions on energy and transportation cases before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, and managing the Mayor’s Energy Challenge which helps small businesses reduce their energy burden and environmental impacts.
The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 7 was 466. The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 7 is $58,205.00. Democrat Incumbent City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn secured the required nominating petitions signatures and the required $5.00 donations for public finance and has been given $58,205.00 to run her campaign.
JAEMES SHANLEY
Editor’s Note: New Mexico statutes require elections to allow for write-in candidates, but only if they have properly qualified for the election to allow their votes to be counted. A Declaration of Intent to be a write-in candidate can only be filed on one day and must be filed and accompanied by a nominating petitions containing the same number of signatures or the filing fee required of other candidates for the same office. A write-in candidate must be considered a candidate for all purposes and provisions relating to candidates in the Local Election Act, except that the write-in candidate’s name shall not be printed on the ballot nor posted in any polling place.
Links to review the New Mexico State laws on write in candidates are here:
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-1/article-10/section-1-10-13/
https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-1/article-22/section-1-22-8-1/
September 2 is the one day designated for write in candidates for City Council to file with the Bernalillo County Clerk their declarations of candidacies along with 500 nominating petition signatures. Jaemes Shanley will be running as a write in candidate against incumbent City Council Tammy Feiebekorn. Confidential sources have confirmed that Shanley has gathered more than enough nominating petition signatures to qualify as a write in candidate.
Democrat Jaemes Shanley is the President of the Mark Twain Neighborhood Association located in the mid heights and is the Vice President of the District 7 Coalition of Neighborhoods which boasts membership of 14 neighborhood associations. Shanley first arrived in Albuquerque in August 1969, after graduating High School in England, to attend UNM from which he graduated in 1973. His parents followed a year later, and his father retired in Albuquerque after a 30-year career as a US Naval aviator. In 1971 they purchased a home in the Mark Twain neighborhood where they resided for the remainder of their lives. Jaemes worked a lifetime in the private sector in sales and marketing for various corporations in the United States, Australia, and Japan. His work required extensive travel throughout Asia Pacific and Latin America routinely on the ground in more than 30 countries. Jaemes and his wife returned to Albuquerque in September 2006 to renovate and take up residence in his parent’s Mark Twain neighborhood home where they reside today, becoming actively involved with Neighborhood Associations.
Links to two guest columns written by Jaemes Shanley and by published by www.PeteDinelli.com can be found in the postscript.
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 MAGA Republican City Councilor Renee Grout who is seeking a second term. The District is very condensed and is considered 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.
Initially, there were a total of three candidates running against City Councilor Renee Grout. Democrat Byron Powdrell failed to secure the 500 qualifying petition signatures thereby failing to make the ballot. On August 25, first-time candidate Democrat Melani Buchanan Farmer dropped out of the race leaving the district’s incumbent and a lone challenger as the only two candidates. Buchanan Farmer cited “personal and family circumstances” as her reason to step back after having collected the 500 nominating petition signatures.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_f99fa519-932b-4e29-b270-bae5fda2b779.html
RENÉE GROUT
According to the city council website, MAGA Republican City Councilor Renée Grout has lived in District 9 for more than four decades. City Councilor Grout has held the District 9 since 2021. She says tackling crime, homelessness and economic development are the city’s biggest priorities. Grout is the owner and operator of auto repair business in Albuquerque. Grout has qualified for public campaign funding. The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 9 was 416 and the amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 9 is $51,957.50.
COLTON NEWMAN
Colton Newman is a Democrat. Newman is a business manager for UNM’s Center on Alcohol, Substance Use and Addiction, which oversees research to treat substance use disorder. He graduated from UNM with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in project management. According to Colton Newman, Albuquerque’s biggest issues are the rising cost of living, community safety and building climate resilience, all of which he plans to address if elected.Newman’s campaign is privately financed.
Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Since January 1, 2024 the philosophical political breakdown of the city council has been as follows:
DEMOCRATS
District 1 Conservative Democrat Louie Sanchez
District 2 Progressive Democrat Joaquin Baca
District 3 Moderate Democrat Klarissa Peña
District 6 Progressive Democrat Nichole Rogers
District 7 Progressive Democrat Tammy Fiebelkorn
REPUBLICANS
District 5 MAGA Conservative Republican Dan Lewis
District 4 MAGA Conservative Republican Brook Bassan
District 8 MAGA Conservative Republican Dan Champine
District 9 MAGA Conservative Republican Renee Grout
Although the City Council is split with 5 Democrats and 4 Republicans, Conservative Democrat Louie Sanchez is considered the swing vote and has repeatedly allied himself with conservative MAGA Republicans Dan Lewis, Renée Grout, and Brook Bassan and Dan Champine to approve or kill measures on a 5-4 vote but being unable to override Progressive Democrat Mayor Tim Keller’s veto’s with the required 6 votes.
Four years ago after Keller was elected to his second term, MAGA Republican Dan Lewis and Conservative Democrat Louis Sanchez demanded to reconfirm Keller Department Director appointments in order to have to confirmation hearings and to vote against Keller’s appointed Chief Administrative Officer, City Clerk and City Attorney. They successfully forced Keller’s Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair to resign.
Among the most notable legislation the 5 conservative city councilors attempted to enact to curtail Progressive Mayor Tim Keller’s authority as Mayor were:
- A resolution to repeal or limit mayoral authority during a public health emergency.
- A resolution baring the city from mandating covid-19 vaccines for the municipal government workforce.
- Calling for a series of charter amendments including one that would eliminate runoff elections, an amendment giving the city council more power to affirm or reject a Mayor’s appoints of department directors and one to abolish the Mayor/City Council form of government and to return to a city manager form of Government with a city manager appointed by the City Council.
Over the last two years, the 5 conservative city councilors have shown strong resistance to Mayor Keller’s progressive agenda to change the city’s zoning laws as going too far. Repeatedly, the 5 conservative city councilor’s have voted NO on legislation promoted by Progressive Mayor Tim Keller including legislation sponsored by Progressive Democrat City Councilors dealing with major policy changes and amendments to the city’s zoning laws known as the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO).
With the departure of conservative Democrat Louis Sanchez, it is more likely the city council will be more moderate council with the election of any one of 3 Democrats candidates running to replace him. Further, Democrats are making a very strong effort to replace MAGA Republican incumbents Dan Lewis and Renee Grout, but both are considered by city hall observers as favored to retain their seats.
MISTAKE TO DISCOUNT WRITE IN CANDIDATE
First term Progressive Democrat Tammy Feibelkorn in District 7 is considered highly unpopular within her district given her sponsorship or support of controversial major legislation that has failed to be enacted by the city council during her tenure. The legislation has included her unwavering support of city sanctioned “safe out door spaces” for the homeless and her sponsorship of “opt in” zoning laws to increase density in establish neighborhoods. Feibelkorn’s staunch support and vote for changes to the city’s zoning laws that eliminated adjoining property owners rights to appeal zoning changes and requiring appealing neighborhood associations to pay the attorney fees of developers who prevailed in seeking zoning changes has resulted in voters believing she is not acting in their best interests. When asked to reconsider her positions, she simply says NO and says she has made up her mind even before the legislation is debated by the full city council.
It would be a major mistake to discount the write in candidacy of Jaemes Shamley against Tammy Feibelkorn given her unpopularity within the District and his emerging support from voters who want change and are tired of Feibelkorn’s failure to represent their best interests.
Another major factor is the election will be low voter turnout election. When it comes to city council races, it is expected that only 4,000 to 5,000 votes will be required to win when each district has a population of 60,000 to 65,000 people. According to the most recent United States census, District 7 has total population of 64,847. In 2021, Tammy Feibelkorn won garnering 5,119 votes to her opponents 3,160 in an extremely low voter turnout runoff election.
https://ballotpedia.org/City_elections_in_Albuquerque,_New_Mexico_(2021)
If the 2025 municipal election is in fact another low voter turn out election with a little more than a 20% voter turnout, a write in candidate can easily win with people who are motivated to vote who want change.
Please vote on November 4. If you want change, now is the time to vote for it.
Links to related blog articles are here:
Jaemes Shanley Guest Opinion Column: The Audacity of Contempt
Jaemes Shanley Guest Opinion Column: A Mark Twain Neighborhood Perspective Of Albuquerque