On October 15, Mayor Tim Keller, City Councilor Louie Sanchez, Darren White, and Alex Uballez appeared on KOAT TV for the only televised debate in the 2025 Mayors race. The four were deemed by the station as the front runners based upon an Albuquerque Journal poll. Excluded because of low polling numbers and low campaign fundraising were challengers Mayling Armijo, Eddie Varela and Daniel Chavez with Chavez having withdrawn from the race. KOAT TV news anchor Doug Fernandez acted as the moderator with KOAT TV news reporter Shelley Ribando, Albuquerque Journal Reporter Dan Boyd and radio talk show host Bob Clark asking questions.
The four candidates answered an array of questions on Albuquerque’s problems including the homeless, crime and the city’s sanctuary city or immigrant friendly status and economic development with the four clashing over how they would handle the issues and their solutions to the city’s problems. The three most discussed issues in the debate were crime fighting, how the city is dealing with the homeless and the city’s immigrant friendly policy.
CRIME FIGHTING
Mayor Keller touted his administration’s creation of Albuquerque Community Safety Department. The department is the first of its kind in the country and uses civilians and social workers to divert people in crises and other “calls for service” from the Albuquerque Police Department. Keller also emphasized APD’s use of crime-fighting technology such as the ShotSpotter system, which sends an alert when a gunshot is detected across the city as well as “speed cameras” to detect speeding and issue civil citations.
City councilor Loui Sanchez, a retired police officer, for his part called Keller’s crime fighting methods “reactive, not proactive.” He said the only way to bring down crime is to hire more officers and enforcing the law even when it comes to low-level crime. Sanchez said the city needs 1,600 sworn police to deal with the city’s crime rates. APD currently has 900 sworn police.
Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said he would choose a new police chief for the Albuquerque Police Department and focus on proactive policing, directing officers to do more patrols and make more traffic stops. White noted that traffic stops are key to apprehension of people who have committed other crimes or who have outstanding warrants and that sworn officers, not technology, can do hands on investigations during traffic stops.
Former U.S. Attorney Alex Uballes proposed streamlining the 911 process by creating a “unified dispatch center” shared by the city and county. Uballez also said he would focus on helping inmates re-entering society from jail or prison to stop recidivists from returning to the criminal justice system.
NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT TO DEAL WITH CRIME
Mayor Keller said he sees Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s deployment of the New Mexico National Guard to Albuquerque to help with addressing the city’s crime problem as “forward-thinking” and that it was cooperation between the city and state. Keller said he and the governor anticipated Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and by making the first move blocked any attempt to do so in New Mexico. Keller argued that the public misunderstands the National Guard’s role in Albuquerque. Keller noted the National Guard doesn’t do law enforcement, but helps APD officers with cumbersome and time-consuming tasks outside of making arrests.
All three of Keller’s opponents took issue with the National Guard being deployed to the city. They called it offensive and a political farce and compared the action to President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, the District of Columbia, Portland and Chicago.
Darren White said that deploying the Guard to do support services and paperwork makes a mockery of the serving men and women serving in the military. White said this:
“These are people who are trained as fighters for our military. … We deployed them here in Albuquerque in such a way that they were put into polo shirts and khaki pants — that’s not the uniform of our military.”
Louie Sanchez said he was upset that the National Guard were taken out of their traditional role by having military personnel wear polo shirts and doing support work and services for APD.
Alex Uballez compared Keller and Lujan Grisham to Trump’s actions and said the move “set a terrible precedent.”
THE HOMELESS
Solving the city’s homelessness crisis was heavily debated by the candidates. All four candidates proposed everything from providing shelter, making arrests and expanding social services.
Keller pointed to the his development and creation of the Gateway System, a group of homeless shelters and social services, as a step in the right direction. According to the city shelter bed tracker, between 800 and 1,000 people sleep in city-affiliated homeless shelters each night. The 2024 annual survey of the homeless known as the “Point In Time” counted 2,750 chronic homeless, with and 18% increase over last year, with other estimates being as high as 5,000.
Sanchez called the Keller’s Gateway System of shelters for the homeless an ineffective use of taxpayer funds, saying “$300 million spent and look at the streets, they are not changing.”
White said that law enforcement needs to take a stricter approach to the homeless population and make arrests for illegal camping and drug use.
Both White and Uballez criticized Keller’s encampment sweeps. White called the estimated 200 sweeps conducted each week by the Solid Waste department unproductive. Uballez called the sweeps “cruel.” Uballez alleged that city solid waste workers have disposed of personal belongings like ID cards and, in one case, cremated remains.
SANCTUARY CITY DEBATE
EDITOR’S NOTE: Albuquerque is not nor has it ever been a “sanctuary city.” For the last 23 years, and by city council enacted ordinance, the city is an “immigrant friendly” city. A “Sanctuary City” requires local government to essentially shield the undocumented from federal authorities and from federal detention and arrests. “Immigrant friendly” cities enact policies that allow the undocumented city services like all other citizens and does not allow its local law enforcement to investigate federal immigration law violations nor detain nor arrest for violations of federal immigration laws. Immigrant friendly cities allow local law enforcement to make arrests of the undocumented only for violations of local ordinances and state laws.
The most spirited topic of the debate was over the city’s immigration policy and if it is a sanctuary city or an immigrant friendly city.
City Councilor Sanchez launched an aggressive attack on Keller’s immigration policy, decrying the city’s status as a “Sanctuary City” and pointing at Keller and declaring: “You want to protect criminals!”
The problem for Sanchez is that he voted against a proposed amendment to Albuquerque’s immigrant-friendly policy, which required police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The decision was part of a Council debate on the city’s stance towards immigration enforcement.
Keller shot back at the Sanchez accusation and said this:
Louie, you literally voted for my policy. Like, literally. And no one is protecting murderers. We will arrest anyone who commits murder and we will prosecute them. . .so look at your own voting record.
Darren White responded agreeing with Keller and said this:
Louie that law was very clear that you voted on. That change would have said if you were in this country illegally and you were charged with a violent crime . . .it would have required the APD to turn that information over to (federal authorities). You voted against that. You were the deciding vote. So the truth is you voted against it.
CANDIDATE CLOSING STATEMENTS
The four candidates made the following closing statements that are a good summation for all 4 candidates:
MAYOR TIM KELLER
“Number one, you’ve heard a lot about people talking about the problems, about what they want to do or blaming the problems on different things. That’s easy. That’s not leadership. What leadership is, is actually explaining how to solve the problem. That is the real work. That is the problem solving that I’ve been doing. The second thing is you’re going to hear how the last eight years wasn’t that great. And I will tell you, that’s not what this election is about. It’s about who is best equipped in these tough times to lead us and hold us together for the next four years. That’s why we need strong, experienced leaders.”
DARREN WHITE:
“Before you cast your vote, ask the simple question. What is Tim Keller done in 12 years? That he’s not going to do that he hasn’t done in eight. If I’m elected, I’m only going to serve four years. I’m not trying to pad my political resume or punch my ticket to higher office. I want to go in day one, roll up my sleeves, get to work and clean up the mess. Mayor Keller is running to save his political future. I‘m running to save our city. I’m Darren White, and I respectfully ask for your vote.”
LOUIE SANCHEZ:
“Thank you. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over. And it’s expecting different results. I’m running for mayor to stop the insanity. This is unbelievable. I am a retired law enforcement officer. I’m a city councilor and a small business owner. I know what it is to sign paychecks, and I know what it is to sign policy. We need new leadership. We need experience. And we need accountability and transparency back in City Hall. I’m Louie Sanchez , and I’d love to earn your vote.”
ALEX UBABLLEZ:
“The mayor is a temporary custodian of a position that belongs to you. The people. You don’t have to decide between going backwards with these challengers and going nowhere with the incumbents. My first 100 days, I will lay the framework for public safety that’s responsive and gets you the answer that you need quickly. That deals with homelessness in a humane way that has built economic development and possibility for our kids. Because this office, it’s not a right, it’s a responsibility, and it’s an Albuquerque that will work for you. My name is Alex Uballez, I respectfully ask for your vote.”
The link to the full transcript of the debate is here:
https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-mayoral-debate-2025-election/69041960
Watch the entire debate on KOAT‘s Youtube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNmjW_7vEBk
The link to a relied upon or quoted news source is here:
POLL RESULTS
On Sunday, September 28 the Albuquerque Journal published the results of its opinion poll on the Albuquerque’s Mayor race.
Following are the poll results:
- Tim Keller: 29%
- Darren White: 16%
- Alex Uballez: 6%
- Louie Sanchez: 6%
- Mayling Armijo: 1%
- Eddie Varela: 2%
- Daniel Chavez: 1%
- Undecided 37%
- Decline To Say 2%
TOTAL: 100%
https://www.abqjournal.com/election/article_bf155bf7-2226-486b-ac34-07ca23e0173b.html
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Given the apathy of voters when it comes to municipal elections, it is more likely than not that very few actually watch the debate, except perhaps “political junkies” and candidates supporters and campaign staff. One thing is for certain is that KOAT -TV did a major disservice to voters with the exclusion of Mayling Armijo and Eddie Varela given the fact the Albuquerque Journal poll showed that 37% of the voters are undecided. The station could have very easily allowed another 30 minutes for the debate to include them or simply cut back on questions and concentrated on the three major issues.
In the final analysis, there was no clear winner of the debate. The debate likely did not sway very many undecides nor anyone’s opinion on who they will vote for. The trajectory of the race remains the same as reflected in the Journal poll with Mayor Tim Keller and Darren White in runoff.
Early voting commences on October 18 and ends on November 1Under Albuquerque’s city charter, the two top finishers in the mayor’s race will face off in a run-off election if the top finisher does not receive 50% or more of the votes cast. If it’s necessary, this year’s run-off election would take place December 9.
The link to a related article is here: