With the field of seven set for the 2025 Albuquerque mayoral race, campaign finance reports from the most recent reporting period were released Monday.
Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller is the only candidate to qualify for Albuquerque’s public financing system, giving him access to $755,946 in taxpayer funds while his challengers must rely on private donations for the November election.
Of the candidates who filed campaign finance reports, two announced total hauls of more than $100,000 – but not all of it is from donations.
City reports show that former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White appeared to raise the most in individual donations with $88,344.73 in the bank by the report cutoff period last week but White tells City Desk he had raised an additional $106,286 between then and July 14, bringing his overall haul to over $194,000 including an early loan of $8,700.
Former police officer and current City Councilor Louie Sanchez filed contributions of $215,741.88, but $160,000 of that comes from money Sanchez loaned himself for the campaign, including a one-time loan of $150,000 in June. That’s more than the $146,081 annual salary of the mayor, in case you were curious.
Former U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico Alex Uballez has raised $79,409.16 in individual donations since abandoning public financing.
Daniel Chavez, President of Parking Company of America, reported $113,875 in contributions including $100,000 he loaned himself last period.
Mayling Armijo has raised $40,394.37, including a $15,175.65 loan to herself.
Retired Albuquerque firefighter Eddie Varela has $8,389.96 in contributions, including $2,827.06 he loaned to his campaign.
City Desk ABQ reached out ot other candidates for comment on their campaign financing but did not hear back by press time.
Privately financed mayoral candidates can receive donations up to $6,000 and can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.
With seven candidates for mayor, a runoff election is likely. Runoffs are necessary when no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. If that happens on Nov. 5, the top two candidates will face each other in a runoff election that must be held within 45 days of Election Day.
Elections should be publicly financed and each candidate should have the same amount of money having the wealthiest people or the wealthiest donors essentially purchase elections and important civic positions is anti-democratic and ultimately un-American.
The only people who should be allowed to donate are those who could vote for the candidate. However, this cannot happen without major changes in Washington, something I doubt will occur in my lifetime.