ABQ Election 2017

Keller sweeps high dollar race to be ABQ’s next mayor

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State Auditor Tim Keller landed strong in his bid to be Albuquerque’s next mayor, sweeping up just under 62 percent of the vote last night in an election with large turnout for Albuquerque — 29 percent. Keller ran a largely positive campaign, emphasizing along the way grassroots support for his campaign. The only candidate in the race who went for public financing, he raised 6,000 small donations of $5 early in the year to qualify for public funding. He noted in his victory speech the positive nature of his campaign, saying he had “rejected division.”

His positive campaign overcame negative ads charging he was soft on sex offenders and numerous ethics complaints filed by his political opponents. As a publicly financed candidate he was in the middle of the pack financially, in what was the most expensive mayoral race in Albuquerque, ever.

Transparency

Compliance with ABQ lobbying rules falls way short

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One way to cut through the din of constant political noise during an election is to look at the money flowing through the political system. Laws that require campaign and lobbying reports are meant to help the public learn about groups or people attempting to influence election outcomes through donations, or official decisions by spending money on elected officials once they’re in office. Those laws are only worthwhile, though, when they are followed. Take, for example, Albuquerque’s lobbying ordinance. It looks good on paper.

ABQ Election 2017

Albuquerque progressive voters show up on election day

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Albuquerque progressive voters came out in force yesterday, giving State Auditor Tim Keller, a Democrat, just shy of 40 percent of the vote among eight competitors in the city’s mayoral election. Keller will face off in a runoff election Nov. 14 against Republican City Councilor Dan Lewis, who came in second with 22.93 percent. The two were frontrunners in a race shaped early as a battle between a lone publicly financed candidate — Keller — backed by small donors, labor and progressive organizations, and three privately financed candidates who together raised almost $2 million — Lewis, County Commissioner Wayne Johnson and attorney Brian Colón. Turnout was higher than the city has seen in well over a decade, around 25 percent.

Money out, Money in: Candidates return money to city contractors, then their owners give

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Albuquerque bans contributions to candidates for elective office from businesses or individuals who make money from city contracts, but that doesn’t prevent owners of those companies from giving to candidates in a different way. The practice is on stark display in a recent campaign report filed by mayoral candidate Brian Colón, who returned contributions from several companies with city contracts on September 12 and then accepted contributions from the owners of those companies about a week later. Owners are allowed to give as individuals or through other companies they own. In his report filed September 22, Colón showed he had returned contributions from contractors identified previously to him by KOB Channel 4, reported by KOB on September 19. The report also reflected that Colón had accepted contributions from the owners of those companies, as either individuals or through their other companies.

UPDATED: Santolina developer behind sex offender ads against Tim Keller

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It doesn’t get much darker in the annals of Albuquerque negative political campaigning. More than a week ago, a mysterious group began running an ad on the city’s television stations. The first image is of State Auditor and Albuquerque mayoral candidate Tim Keller, quickly followed by a dark figure wearing a hoodie. “Sex offender” in bold red letters flashes on the screen before cutting to a backlit child riding a bike. Billboards later sprung up in the city.

ABQ Election 2017

Realtors and developers give big money to ABQ mayoral candidates

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An often heard saying about elections is that candidates spend their time asking anyone they can find for money to fund their campaigns. The amount of money being raised and spent so far in the Albuquerque mayor’s race is already an unprecedented $2,646,494. But a look at the campaigns of the three candidates raising the most in private dollars suggests one constituency is being asked a lot more than others. The real estate and land development sector has given roughly $1 of every $4 raised so far in the Albuquerque mayoral race once you subtract public financing dollars for one candidate and a half-a-million-dollar loan another candidate gave to himself, an NMID analysis shows. No other sector even comes close in its giving power, according to the analysis.

ABQ Election 2017

ABQ mayor’s race tops $2 million

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Albuquerque’s mayoral contest is officially a $2 million race, setting the stage for the most expensive mayor’s race ever in the city. Campaign finance reports filed today show mayoral candidates have raised or otherwise accumulated $2,103,107 since the beginning of the year. That figure includes $380,791 for Tim Keller’s publicly financed campaign. $500,000 in loans to himself by Ricardo Chaves, plus $8,648 he’s contributed to his own campaign. Dan Lewis has raised $355,254, which includes $90,477.56 he started the year with.