Election Day has come and gone, but voters will soon have to return to the polls to cast their ballots for a second time this year.
The Albuquerque mayoral race is headed to a runoff election between incumbent Mayor Tim Keller and former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. The election will be held, with early voting taking place from Dec. 1 through 6.
In the regular election, Keller won first place with 36% of the vote, and White came in second with 31%; a runoff is triggered if no candidate passes the 50% margin needed to win.
The mayor's race will not be the only race on the ballot Dec. 9, as runoff elections for city council districts one and three will be held as well.
District one saw four candidates — the most of any city council race — as City Councilor Louie Sanchez chose to run for mayor instead of a second city council term. Stephanie Telles led the race with 36% of the vote and will face Joshua Taylor Neal — who received second place and 26% of the vote — in the runoff.
The current district three councilor, Klarissa Peña, will face challenger Teresa Garcia in the runoff election. Peña received 41% of the vote, and Garcia received 38%.
This year's local elections saw a large increase in turnout compared to previous years; approximately 134,000 people voted in the Albuquerque mayoral race, nearly 15,000 more than in the 2021 mayoral race and 37,000 more than the 2017 mayoral race, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office.
White said the turnout indicates that voters want a change, while Keller pointed to national trends and said that the high number of candidates helped drive turnout.
Keller said he expects the runoff election to be more focused on the differences between the candidates and their records than the regular election.
“This is a very distinct choice, and so you can't do that without actually talking about someone's record, which is why I'm doing that right now. You have to draw a contrast, because we are totally different people. And (White) would agree with that, actually,” Keller said.
White said that he expects Keller to “resort to attacking” him instead of running on “results.”
Both candidates said that they expected the upcoming runoff, but were pleased with their Election Day performance.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Perhaps the more unexpected mayoral election result came in third place, as former U.S. attorney for New Mexico, Alex Uballez, received 19% of the vote when he was polling at only 6% in late September, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
White and Keller both exceeded their poll numbers, as Keller was projected to receive 29% and White 16%, with 37% of likely voters being undecided at the time of the poll.
Both campaigns seem likely to maintain their key messages from the regular election, with Keller presenting himself as an experienced leader.
“These are tough times, and we need strong, experienced leadership to keep our city moving forward and to keep going in a direction that works for everyone in Albuquerque, and this election represents that very choice, because the alternative is a massive backslide into a Trump-like city that no one wants to see again,” Keller said.
White maintained his regular campaign messaging in the wake of the runoff announcement, positioning himself as tough on crime.
“If you believe that the mayor has done a good job on the big issues like crime and lawlessness, then vote for him. But if you think that we can do a hell of a lot better, then I just say, join our team, because we will make a difference, and we will make Albuquerque a city we can all once again be proud of,” White said.
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
