City Councilor Klarissa Peña missed the 50% threshold needed to avoid a December runoff Tuesday, with 58% of District 3 voters choosing other candidates in a three-way race that will likely pit her against challenger Teresa Garcia. With all 687 precincts partially reporting in District 3, Klarissa Peña led with 2,602 votes or 42%. Teresa […]
Category: Beats
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Same-day voter registration boosts turnout for local elections
By Noah Gollin, NM Political Report — Almost 6,000 voters used New Mexico’s same day voting process to participate in local elections statewide on Tuesday. About half of those exercised that option in Bernalillo County where a competitive mayor’s race and contested council and school board races drew higher-than-normal turnout for local elections. Voters who […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., Energy Transition, Public Lands
‘Morally wrong, disrespectful:’ NM congressional leaders slam moves to roll back Chaco Canyon buffer zone
Pueblos and advocacy groups that spent decades trying to safeguard one of the most sacred sites of Puebloan culture may soon see all that hard work undone, as the Trump administration considers reopening land around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park to oil and gas drilling as well as mining. In a statement to New […]
Posted inNM State Gov.
New Mexico’s permanent fund managers vote against Elon Musk’s $1 trillion Tesla pay package
Elon Musk is asking Tesla shareholders to approve a $1 trillion pay package for himself this Thursday, but he won’t get any help from New Mexico in doing it. The New Mexico State Investment Council (SIC), which manages state permanent funds from oil and gas royalties and tobacco litigation settlements, officially directed its proxy to […]
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What happened to Gateway’s $21.8M in ‘strings attached’ state funding?
More than a month after Albuquerque received $21.8 million in state funding for Gateway Center expansion, city councilors say they still haven’t received the detailed budget and operational information promised nearly two weeks ago. The funding, awarded in September with strict oversight requirements, is meant to add 183 homeless shelter beds and 204 senior apartments […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News
Trump administration says it will comply with court order to fund SNAP, partially for now
The 559,500 New Mexicans who rely on SNAP for food assistance will get at least some of their monthly federal benefits this month, after the Trump administration agreed to follow two court orders and use a contingency fund to partially fund the benefits. A four-page document submitted to the United States District Court for the […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News
“I have zero confidence in the Trump administration”: Gov. presses ahead with $30 million in state SNAP funds
The $30 million that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pledged to offset losses in federal SNAP funding will go out as promised, even though two court rulings issued Friday direct the Trump administration to tap a contingency fund to pay out some of those benefits. “Because I have zero confidence in the Trump administration to release […]
Posted inPolitics & Elections
They broke the rules but are still on the ballot: City candidates have few real consequences for ignoring transparency rules
Why did we pick this story? The City of Albuquerque has one of the most robust and detailed campaign finance reporting systems in the country. Every donor, dollar and in-kind help must be disclosed on a regular basis so voters know who funds who and how that money is spent to earn your vote. This […]
Posted inAlbuquerque
In District 3, longest serving councilor draws 2 challengers
About this seriesIn addition to the citywide mayor’s race on ballots this Nov., five of nine city council seats are also up for grabs. Notably, all three Westside council seats – Districts 1, 3 and 5 – are competitive. (Races in Districts 7 and 9 east of the Rio Grande are contested but are heavily […]
Posted inCongress & Federal Gov
Judges order feds to fund SNAP after lawsuit by NM Atty. Gen. and others
Two federal judges on Friday ruled that the Trump administration must use a roughly $5 billion contingency fund to cover the cost of SNAP benefits to 42 million Americans, including 459,500 New Mexicans. Both judges, one from Massachusetts and one from Rhode Island, each ruled that the Trump administration could not withhold SNAP benefits in […]