Editor’s note: A previous version of this story reported that Sanchez’s 2025 finance report showed no income. A change in the clerk’s process, discussed in the story below, let Sanchez refer to previous filings. Those filings still failed to report some income and still do not show the loan or source of funds for it.
Albuquerque mayoral candidate and City Councilor Louie Sanchez loaned his campaign $150,000 in June, but his financial disclosures filed the same month did not report the loan and years of previous disclosures never listed liquid assets sufficient to fund it. The gap raises transparency questions as voters prepare for the November election.
Campaign finance records show Sanchez has contributed $160,000 to his mayoral run, including the single $150,000 loan he reported transferring to his campaign on June 2, 2025. The amount is more than the $33,654 salary he earns as a city councilor and more than the $146,081 annual salary of the mayor’s office he is seeking.
Sanchez’s sources of income
To find out what sources of income Sanchez reports, City Desk requested copies of personal finance statements elected officials must file each year while in office.
In past years, Sanchez listed his Allstate insurance agency as his only source of income (Sanchez did not list his city council salary of just over $33,000, though it is larger than the $5,000 reportable limit). In 2022 and 2023, he reported business assets of $15,001 to $50,000 and debts of $250,001 to $500,000 to Wintrust Agent Finance. His 2024 disclosure showed the same numbers.
The 2025 disclosure, filed in July 2025, appears blank because of a new filing option that lets candidates check a box for “no changes from the last reporting period” instead of re-submitting details. City Clerk officials said the checkbox is meant to reference the 2024 disclosure, but the public form appears blank instead of showing last year’s information.
“The City Clerk has a new process this year where City Councilors can check the box for their personal financial statement if there are no changes from the previous year, and that is what I did,” Sanchez told City Desk through his campaign.
Regarding his blank 2025 disclosure, he said, “I am in compliance with all of my city disclosures,” and according to the City Clerk’s office, “my forms are correct and up to date.” On what he filed for 2025, Sanchez said he does not currently have access to the forms and would need to request them from the City Clerk.
So where did the loan funds come from?
When asked by City Desk about the discrepancies, Sanchez’s campaign first replied that the forms were correct. But after the story was first published Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson said he had financed a portion of the campaign through a home equity line of credit. That liability still did not appear on his 2025 report filed a month after reporting the loan out to his campaign. The loan due back to him from his campaign was also not listed. Asked to share documentation that would support the claim, the spokesperson deferred to the campaign’s treasurer. Sanchez has never responded personally to any questions by City Desk about the issue.
When asked whether voters have enough information to understand candidates’ financial situations, he wrote that, “I believe the process is arduous and confusing to candidates, so I believe the public will probably be just as confused.”
The technical problems are also affecting the public display of campaign finance reports for three mayoral candidates, including Sanchez, on the city’s website. City Clerk officials said the underlying data is still available through downloadable files while they work to fix the display problems.
Sanchez has raised $222,488.83, ranking second among seven candidates, though about three-quarters of that comes from personal loans rather than supporter contributions.
The Nov. 4 election will determine Albuquerque’s next mayor, with Sanchez among the challengers seeking to unseat incumbent Keller.