Historic investments and more work ahead: Barbara Baca announces re-election bid for District 1 commissioner

Bernalillo County Commissioner Barbara Baca announced Wednesday she will seek re-election in the June Democratic primary for District 1, which encompasses Albuquerque’s Westside and North Valley. Baca, a lifelong Westside resident and 14th-generation New Mexican, said she is running to continue work on housing, behavioral health and public safety initiatives begun during her first term. […]

Posted inElections & Politics, NM Political Report

New Mexico Democrats will try to change state election dates to be 2028 early primary state

The Democratic Party of New Mexico has applied to the Democratic National Committee to move the state’s presidential primary ahead of Super Tuesday, seeking to give its diverse electorate a larger voice in selecting the party’s 2028 nominee. If approved, New Mexico would need to change state law to move its primary date, a change […]

Posted inOpinion & Analysis

Bregman turns national media attention into new $60K anti-ICE ad blitz in race for Gov

Opinion & Commentary in NM Political Report Pat Davis is the founder and publisher of NM Political Report, City Desk ABQ and NM.news. He is a recovering politician having served eight years as an Albuquerque City Councilor and, in another life, served as a police officer and nonprofit organizer. Sam Bregman’s warning that he will […]

Who showed up to vote in ABQ? Data shows City’s runoff election defied voter fatigue

Correction, Dec. 22, 2025: An earlier version of this story contained significant errors in district-level turnout figures. The story incorrectly stated that District 3 cast 13,908 ballots and had the highest turnout, and that District 7 had the lowest turnout. District 3 precincts actually cast 7,075 total ballots, the lowest of any council district. District […]

Outside groups dump over $100K into runoff elections, and still have lots more to spend

Political Action Committees (PACs) spent more than $132,000 during the three-week runoff election sprint to influence Albuquerque’s three runoff races as early voting kicked off this week, with the mayor’s race drawing most of the outside money just days before voters decide the Dec. 9 contests. The mayoral race drew more than $101,000 in PAC […]

Outside groups spent over $1 million to influence ABQ’s elections in 2025

In the months before a federal judge struck down part of the city’s election transparency laws last week, outside groups had already spent more than one million dollars to influence Albuquerque elections in 2025. A City Desk analysis of city campaign finance data shows that Albuquerque’s 2025 local elections were among the most expensive in […]

Outside groups waste no time raising big bucks for city runoff elections

Business groups, labor unions and a handful of individual donors wasted no time writing more big checks in the first two weeks of the four week city runoff election sprint to Election Day. Campaign finance reports show that outside groups deposited more than $51,000 in new contributions from the day after regular elections ended, Nov. […]

Fiebelkorn, Grout easily win council re-election

City Councilors Tammy Fiebelkorn and Renée Grout won reelection Tuesday, with Fiebelkorn running unopposed in District 7 and Grout defeating challenger Colton Newman in District 9. District 7 In District 7, incumbent Fiebelkorn appears to have easily won reelection with 11,853 votes as of 10:00 PM Tuesday, though write-in votes for challenger Jaemes Shanley had […]

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 […]

Candidates spend big in final weeks of city elections

With one week left before Albuquerque’s municipal elections, Mayor Tim Keller is spending down his taxpayer-funded warchest as he floods local airwaves with campaign ads and remains ahead of his opponents in last minute spending. An analysis of city campaign finance reports by City Desk found that last Keller shelled out $94,000 for television spots […]