SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Voters in New Mexico’s largest city and the state capital of Santa Fe were deciding Tuesday whether to reelect progressive mayors or to back more conservative challengers within the Democratic Party.
Tuesday’s local elections are a preamble to statewide and congressional contests in 2022, when Democrats hope to prolong their hold on all statewide offices, including governor and majorities in the Legislature.
Tuesday marked the final day for in-person voting, with a 7 p.m. deadline for absentee ballots to arrive at voting centers, clerks’ offices or drop boxes. The elections extend to city councils, school district boards and tax initiatives for local education spending.
In Albuquerque, first-term Mayor Tim Keller is confronting questions about his ability to contain crime with plans and programs that focus on the root causes, such as addiction and poverty.
His challengers include two-term Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales, who backed a move by then-President Donald Trump to send more federal law enforcement agents to Albuquerque. conservative radio station owner Eddy Aragon also is seeking the top job in Albuquerque, describing a city afflicted by crime and economic insecurity.
Concerns about crime came to a head this summer when Albuquerque surpassed a record for homicides within a calendar year — a tally that continued to grow in the days ahead of the election.
Affordable housing has been a leading issue in New Mexico’s largest city, where Keller blamed the pandemic for a surge in homelessness.
In Santa Fe, publishing entrepreneur and Mayor Alan Webber has promoted his handling of coronavirus safety, pandemic aid and efforts to expand affordable housing. His progressive bent includes support for a pilot program that provides a guaranteed minimum income to parents attending community college.
Challenger and fellow Democrat JoAnne Vigil Coppler — a city councilor, real estate agent and Latina born in Santa Fe — is highlighting her long career in public administration, overseeing a state district courthouse and personnel divisions in city, county and state government.
She also has cast herself as a guardian of respect for the city’s cultural traditions, in an election contest overshadowed by conflicts over historical monuments.
Republican environmental engineer Alexis Martinez Johnson is running for mayor in Santa Fe as a political outsider, after losing a bid for Congress last year.
Albuquerque voters also will weigh in on a contested $50 million bond measure that would help pay for a new stadium. New Mexico United for All — a political action committee bankrolled by the New Mexico United soccer team — has been the biggest fundraiser and spender in the city election.
