When Alex Uballez lost his bid for mayor in Nov., he quickly endorsed candidates in two of the city’s three runoff elections, both for Westside council seats, scheduled a month later — but not for mayor.
That changed, sort of, this past weekend when Uballez penned a lukewarm endorsement of his former rival in the Albuquerque Journal.
During the campaign, Uballez was sharply critical of Keller’s leadership on issues of public safety and homelessness, in particular. Uballez also accused Keller of “hiding” public records he requested related to Keller’s public travel and long-sought investigations into waste, fraud and abuse led by the former city inspector general.
Nonetheless, Uballez now says that despite his disagreements with Keller, the prospect of former Sheriff Darren White becoming mayor is “worse” than another four years of Keller.
Uballez’s statement never uses the word endorsement, nor does he say he will vote for Keller. Instead, Uballez stays focused on preventing White from becoming mayor.
“While we deserve better, we cannot lose sight of the fact that worse is possible,” Uballez wrote. “Our charge is clear: Keep Darren White out of City Hall. Then keep organizing after Election Day so that Keller delivers for the people of Albuquerque.”
While city elections are technically nonpartisan, Keller and Uballez are both progressive Democrats who battled for the same base of voters in the regular election. Uballez won 18% of the final tally. Keller won 36% and White won 31%. Because no candidate won more than 50% the top two candidates moved to a runoff election ending Dec. 9.
A poll from a pro-Keller political group, taken just before Election Day, showed that neither Keller nor White had enough support to secure victory in a runoff at the time.
Early voting locations are open now.
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