Exactly two months before the November 4 municipal election where voters will be voting on the offices of Mayor and City Council in Districts 1,3,5,7 and 9, two Albuquerque City Council candidates are facing lawsuits with the goal of having them kick off the ballot for their failure to submit the required 500 qualifying nominating petition signatures.
Two separate lawsuits have been filed. One is against Stephanie Telles in City Council District 1. The second is against Teresa Garcia in City Council District 3. Both lawsuits were filed on November 3 by private attorney and former State Senator Jacob Candelaria and Senator Antonio “Moe” Maestas with the Candelaria Law firm LLC in the 2nd Judicial District Court. In addition to Telles and Garcia, Bernalillo County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh is identified as a defendant in both cases. Both cases are asking for an expedited hearing within 10 days of filing of the lawsuits which is on or before September13.
Both lawsuits are straight forward challenges to the validity of the signatures collected and contend that several of the signatures accepted by the City Clerk’s Office are invalid for a variety of reasons. Those reasons include being incomplete, duplicative signatures, signatures from people who are not registered to vote in the district or signatures collected after the deadline to collect rendering them invalid. A person identified in the lawsuits as Nathaniel Sierra, ostensibly a private investigator contracted by Candelaria Law firm, allegedly examined the petition signatures to determine validity.
Both lawsuits allege in part the following process used by the Albuquerque City Clerk to verify the nominating petition signatures: In order to determine the validity of the petition signatures submitted, the City Clerk searched the voter registration records of the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office and searched the name and address provided on the petition to determine the eligibility of each listed voter that signed the petitions. The City Clerk also utilized the statewide voter file, the official database of registered voters in New Mexico that is maintained by the Secretary of State. It is known as the “SOS NM Centralized VR” or “Servis.”
Nathaniel Sierra, a contractor of Candelaria Law LLC, used “Servis” and “Vote Builder” which is a software system of registered voters to verify signatures. Each week during the petition process the city clerk would send an email with a spreadsheet that had the results of the verifications of signatures. The spreadsheet included both accepted and rejected entries. If a paper entry was rejected, the reason was listed in the spreadsheet. Candidates were given the opportunity to rehabilitate rejected signatures by submitting a “Rehabilitation Request Form” within seven calendar days of rejection.
Plaintiff attorney Jacob Candelaria said this about filing the lawsuits:
“If you are running for public office to make the law, you should be expected to follow the law. … Being on the other side of petition challenges no one likes it but that’s why our process exists in an adversarial way because if people have the incentive to call each other out hopefully that’s how the rules are enforced and the truth comes out.”
Candelaria said under state law, the court will need to decide on the cases within the next 10 days.
DISTRICT 1 CHALLENGE TO STEPHANIE TELLES
City Council District 1 is the centrally located Westside District between City Council District 5 on the North and City Council District 3 on the South. 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. City Council District 1 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.
In the race for District 1 City Councilor, there are four candidates running: Ahren Griego, Daniel Leiva, Joshua Taylor Neal and Stephanie Telles. Candidates Ahren Griego, Daniel Leiva, Joshua Taylor Neal were found by the City Clerk to have submitted the required 500 qualifying signatures. However, Stephanie Telles was found by the Albuquerque City Clerk to have failed to collect the required 500 qualifying donations by 7 and she appealed her disqualification to the City Clerk and her appeal was denied.
Notwithstanding the Albuquerque City Clerk’s finding that Telles failed to submit the required number of verified petition signatures, Stephanie Telles filed her Declaration of Candidacy with the Bernalillo County Clerk. On August 28, 2025, Bernalillo County Clerk Michelle S. Kavenaugh notified Stephanie Telles by letter that the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office qualified her Declaration of Candidacy. The August 28, 2025 letter from the Bernalillo County Clerk to Stephanie Telles states as follows:
Dear Ms.Telles:
“Pursuant to NMSA 1978, §1-22-10 (A), the Bernalillo County Clerks Office has qualified your Declaration of Candidacy. Therefor, you will appear as a candidate for the 2025 Regular Election to be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
You shall appear on the ballot as follows:
OFFICE: CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE COUNCIL, DISTRICT 1
NAME: STEPANIE TELLES
Ballot position is determined pursuant to NMAC 1.10.7, Randomization of Candiate Names on Ballots. For your convenience, you may view the New Mexico Election alphabet randomization at: [link given deleted]
If you have further questions, please contact Nathan Jaramillo, Bureau of Elections Administrator … [phone number given deleted.]
Sincerely,
Michelle S. Kavenaugh,
Bernalillo County Clerk
The August 28, 2025 letter from the Bernalillo County Clerk does not mention what efforts were made by the county clerk’s office to verify the 500 signatures or if in fact they were verified.
ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED IN LAWSUITE
Two men, Danny Gonzales and Vincent C. Sanchez, are named as plaintiffs in the suit against Telles. The lawsuit alleges Telles submitted 581 signatures, but the City Clerk’s Office accepted only 493 as valid, leaving her seven signatures short to qualify for the ballot. According to the lawsuit, Nathaniel Sierra, a contractor of Candelaria Law LLC, identified an additional 42 signatures as invalid. Those people are either not city voters or live outside District 1.
The Telles lawsuit alleges of the five-hundred, seventy-three (573) signatures turned into the city by Stephanie Telles, the City Clerk rejected eighty (80) of them. Of the eighty (80) that were rejected by the city clerk, the lawsuit alleges seven (7) were “duplicates” with her own submissions; twenty-one (21) were “incomplete” or missing dates or zip codes; twenty-eight (28) were “not in jurisdiction” (verified as voters, but not residing in District 1); and twenty- four (24) were “not registered” at all and could not be found on any voter rolls. Eight (8) were collected after the deadline and submitted to the County. The lawsuit alleges Nathaniel Sierra discovered forty-two (42) additional signatures that were not rejected by the City Clerk but are duplicates with the other District 1 candidates Daniel Leiva, Joshua Neal and Ahren Griego.
REQUEST FOR RELIEF
The relief the Plaintiffs are requesting from the District Court in their case against Stephanie Telles is as follows:
- Rule that all the signatures collected by Stephanie Telles that are invalid do not count toward the required number of signatures (500) that she was required to collect
- Enter an order declaring that the number of valid nominating petition signatures submitted by Stephanie Telles is insufficient to qualify her to appear as a candidate for City Council District 1 and that she cannot appear on the ballot on the November 4, 2025
- Enter an order directing Defendant County Clerk Michelle S. Kavanaugh not to certify Stephanie Telles as a candidate or permit his placement on the 2025 local election ballot.
TALLES REACTS TO COMPLAINT
Stephanie Telles issued the following statement in reaction to the complaint:
“This lawsuit is more politics as usual. West Siders deserve better. That’s why I am running a grassroots campaign focused on ensuring that all West Siders feel safe in their community, making affordable housing a key part of our thriving neighborhoods, and championing government transparency to ensure City Hall works for everyone. I look forward to a robust debate on the issues and to serving as the next City Councilor for District 1.”
DISTRICT 3 CHALLENGE TO TERESA GARCIA
Three candidates are running to represent Southwest Albuquerque’s District 3. 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. In the race for District 3 City Councilor, there are three candidates running: Incumbent Klarissa Peña, Christopher Sedillo and Teresa Garcia.
ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED IN LAWSUITE
The sole Plaintiff who filed the lawsuit against Teresa Garcia and Bernalillo County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh is former Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada who resides in City Council District 3.
The lawsuit alleges Teresa Garcia turned in six-hundred and ninety nine (699) signatures to the City Clerk. According to the lawsuit the City Clerk identified and rejected one-hundred, sixty-nine (169) signatures as invalid. These signatures were alleged to be invalid because the names on these signature lines were names of people registered outside of the district boundaries or were the names of people not registered to vote at all.
Five-hundred thirty (530) signatures were accepted by the city clerk as valid. It is alleged by Nathaniel Sierra, the contractor with Candelaria Law LLC, that of the 530 signatures validated by the City Clerk, sixty-seven (67) additional signatures are invalid because the names on these signature lines are duplicate names found on the signature petitions of another candidate. The complaint alleges Teresa Garcia collected an additional twenty-nine (29) signatures in the weeks leading up the declaration filing date but well over the legal deadline allowed by the city. These twenty-nine (29) additional signatures are also alleged to be invalid
The complaint alleges Teresa Garcia turned in seven-hundred twenty-eight (728) lines of names and signatures with her declaration of candidacy to the county clerk with only four hundred, four-hundred sixty-three (463) valid petition signatures which is thirty-seven (37) signatures short of the five-hundred (500) necessary to satisfy the requirements of the City Election Code.
The complaint gives a breakdown and alleges of the five-hundred, ninety-nine (599) signatures that Garcia turned into the city, the clerk rejected one-hundred sixty-nine (169) of them. Of the ones rejected by the city clerk, nineteen (19) were “duplicates” (with her own submissions); seven (7) were “incomplete” or missing dates or zip codes; thirty-three (33) were “not in jurisdiction” (verified as voters, but not residing in District 3); one-hundred eighteen (118) were “not registered” and could not be found on any voter rolls and two were “not legible.” Twenty-nine (29) were collected after the city deadline to collect. Nathaniel Sierra discovered sixty-seven (67) additional signatures that were not rejected by the city clerk but are duplicates with the two other District 3 candidates Christopher Sedillo and Klarissa Peña.
Plaintiff Steven Michael said this in a press release about his lawsuit:
“This lawsuit is about upholding the integrity of our elections. Every candidate must adhere to the same legal standards. Allowing a candidate to bypass the signature requirement undermines the rules, the electoral process, and the voters of District 3.”
REQUEST FOR RELIEF
The relief Plaintiff former Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada is requesting from the District Court in his case against Teresa Garcia is as follows:
- Rule that all the signatures collected by Teresa Garcia that are invalid do not count toward the required number of signatures (500) that she was required to collect
- Enter an order declaring that the number of valid nominating petition signatures submitted by Teresa Garcia are insufficient to qualify her to appear as a candidate for City Council District 1 and that she cannot appear on the ballot on the November 4, 2025
- Enter an order directing Defendant County Clerk Michelle S. Kavanaugh not to certify Teresa Garcia as a candidate or permit his placement on the 2025 local election ballot.
TERESA GARCIA REACTS TO COMPLAINT
Teresa Garcia reacted to the complaint in a statement saying in part:
“This lawsuit is not about ‘integrity.’ It is about protecting entrenched power and silencing the voices of District 3. I will not be intimidated. I will continue fighting for the hardworking families of the Southwest Mesa who deserve safe streets, real investment, and leadership that listens.”
Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:
https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/two-albuquerque-city-council-candidates-face-lawsuits/
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/2-albuquerque-city-council-candidates-face-challenges-to-candidacies/
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The biggest problem identified with both challenges to the candidacies of Stephanie Telles and Teresa Garcia is that there is no clarity under the law, or the election rules and regulations, as to who has the ultimate authority between the Albuquerque City Clerk and the Bernalillo County Clerk to decided the validity nominating signatures submitted.
Article 2, Section 4, of the City of Albuquerque Charter dealing with Elections outlines the qualifications to run for Albuquerque City Council and states in part:
“Persons desiring to become candidates for District Councilor shall, before being placed on the ballot, file with the City Clerk a petition containing signatures of five hundred (500) registered voters residing in the district which the person desires to represent.”
It is clear that all candidates for City Council are required to gather 500 verified nominating petition signatures from registered voters within the city council 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.
The Albuquerque City Clerk reviewed all signatures submitted and verified that those who signed the petitions were registered, qualified voters who live in the City Council District. (Article II, Section 4, of the City Charter. And City Ordinance § 2-4-10(2).)
Under New Mexico State Law, “A signature shall be counted on a nominating petition unless there is evidence presented that the petition is not a voter of the state, district, county or area to be represented by the office for which the person seeking the nomination is a candidate.” Further, “A signature shall be counted on a nominating petition unless there is evidence presented that the petition signature has signed more than one petition for the same office.” [§ 1-1-7.2(C)(1) NMSA], § 1-1-7.2(C)(2) NMSA]
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. For that reason, candidates for City Council were required to file Declarations of Candidacies with the Bernalillo County Clerk as well as the 500 petition signatures collected.
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/
A “Declaration for Candidacy” for Albuquerque City Council along with the requisite signatures on nominating petitions were required to be filed with the Bernalillo County Clerk on August 26, 2025, between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. (City Election Code § 1-22-7(A))
https://www.City.gov/vote/candidate-information/candidate-calendar-for-the-2025-regular-local-election
The problem is there is no clarity or rules and regulations agreed to between the City Clerk and the Bernalillo County Clerk as to who has the final authority to certify municipal candidacies and to certify nominating petition signatures for the ballot.
Ultimately, it will be the District Court who will decide what needs to be done. The Court could very well conclude that it should not have to do the job of either clerk and simply order the city clerk to go back, again verify the signatures of Stephanie Telles and Teresa Garcia because its a city election and then tell the County Clerk who goes on the ballot and to administer the election.
The plaintiffs in both cases should consider filing Amended Complaints naming the Albuquerque City Clerk and the City of Albuquerque as necessary and proper parties and move to consolidate the cases to be heard by one judge. This would result in the court having complete jurisdiction over all the parties and issues and enable the court to issue consistent rulings and orders.
Elections for county officials do not require nominating petition signatures. In this day age with so few wanting to run for office, you would think the time has come for the city to get rid of the requirement of mandating nominating petition signatures for office and simply require declarations of candidacy.