Albuquerque Mayoral Race Turns 'Nasty'

Albuquerque voters will decide on Tuesday whether Mayor Tim Keller keeps his job or if former sheriff Darren White takes over, in a mayoral runoff that's grown increasingly bitter. The race's defining image may be dozens of unhoused people in the city's International District sporting bright yellow "I [heart] Tim Keller" sweatshirts—a stunt that sparked accusations of political exploitation and triggered a formal ethics complaint from Keller's camp, which called the episode "cruel" and "unlawful," the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

The people who handed out the sweatshirts "didn't identify themselves," an unhoused man who received one tells KOAT. "They had no tags. They weren't wearing anything. They just asked if we wanted sweaters." The Keller campaign said it had nothing to do with the giveaway. "To supporters of Darren White who think they are making a clever statement about Mayor Keller: Yes, those sweatshirts provide warmth," the campaign said. "But using people experiencing homelessness as political props is disgraceful. No one's hardship should be exploited for campaign stunts."

• Paul Gessing, a local political operative named in the complaint, called the ethics complaint "ridiculous" and denied any involvement in the matter. Keller and White have clashed over how to address rising crime and homelessness. "I think people are frustrated, and the average person sees the homeless problem, sees the crime issue, and they see Keller as largely responsible for that," Gessing says.
• White, running on a tough-on-crime platform, has promised to dismantle tent encampments "on day one," while Keller insists the city can't arrest its way out of the problem.
• The race has seen an influx of late money, fueling a barrage of negative ads and online vitriol. Outside political committees have spent heavily on both sides.
• "It's been a more visible race, and it's been more nasty, partially because of the money now involved for direct mail, TV, radio, social media," says Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling Inc.
• Keller led the initial vote in November with 36% to White's 31%, but the outcome may hinge on whether supporters of the third-place finisher, former US Attorney Alexander Uballez, return to the polls.
• Sanderoff tells the Albuquerque Journal that early and absentee voting has been robust. "The fact that they're well known and the fact that they're so different from each other contributes to the high turnout," he says. "These are people who really come from different perspectives, different styles, different policy positions. And so the voters have a real choice here."