New Mexico voters head to the polls for local elections - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Across New Mexico in roughly half of the state’s 33 counties, voters will cast their ballots in the Nov. 4 local elections, deciding the outcomes for 997 contests, which include mayors and other municipal officials; hospital board members; soil and water districts; and various school boards.
As of publication early Tuesday morning, 162,586 residents had cast either early or absentee ballots, approximately 11.8% of the state’s nearly 1.4 million voters.
Voter turnout during years without federal races typically runs significantly lower. For instance, turnout for local elections in November 2023 was about 20.5% versus 69% for the November 2024 general election.
New Mexico allows people to register and vote on the same day in person, or register online here. As of publication, 2,369 people had utilized same-day voter registration. Voters who are changing party affiliation, legal name or who have recently moved need to fill out a new registration form.
New Mexico voters must be citizens, older than 18 years at the time of the election, residing in the state and not denied the right to vote by the courts. People on probation or parole are allowed to vote, but not people in jails or prisons.
The New Mexico Secretary of State offers a service to find nearby polling locations by typing in a ZIP code.
Polls across the state will close at 7 p.m.
The 50 nonpartisan mayoral races across the state include contests in New Mexico’s capitol and its largest city, which are fielding crowded mayoral races. These municipal contests have adopted different structures than some of the state’s other elections.
For example, Santa Fe has employed rank choice voting since 2018, which allows voters to rank candidates in races with more than two candidates in order of preference. In ranked-choice voting, a winning candidate must receive a simple majority of the total votes cast. If no winner emerges on the count, candidates with the fewest number of top-ranked votes are eliminated and their second-place candidates are counted, until a candidate crosses the 50%-plus-one vote threshold.
Voters in Santa Fe’s mayoral race have the option to rank eight candidates vying to replace two-term Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber, who is not running for reelection. The Santa Fe Clerk’s office says it will be livestreaming the tabulation rounds on its YouTube and Facebook pages.
Both Albuquerque and Gallup have automatic runoffs for their mayoral races. That means if no candidate garners more than 50% of the vote, then the top two candidates in the Gallup and Albuquerque mayoral races will head to a Dec. 9 runoff election, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office.
In Albuquerque, incumbent Tim Keller faces five challengers for the city’s top position on Nov. 4. They include former U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez and former Bernalillo County Sheriff turned cannabis mogul Darren White. Also in the running are Louie Sanchez, a one-term Albuquerque city councilor and former police officer; Mayling Armijo, a Navy veteran and former economic development director for the city; and Eddie Varela, a former firefighter.
In Gallup, three challengers are looking to replace current Mayor Louie Bonaguidi, who did not run for reelection.
Beyond candidates, voters will be asked to decide on bonds and ballot questions.
These includes a request by Albuquerque Public Schools that would allow them to access up to $350 million for construction on school buildings, equipment and matching funds for capital outlay projects from the state.
The City of Albuquerque is also asking voters to approve more than $180 million across 11 bonds, including specific funds for libraries, museums, community centers, police stations and more.
In Santa Fe, voters will be asked to decide if the city’s governing documents should be amended to change the powers of the mayor and the city council.
That will include a question asking if voters will approve a change to allow city councilors to remove or suspend the city manager, city attorney or city clerk, if a supermajority of six councilors agree to do so.
The other question will ask voters to decide if they will amend the city charter to restrict the mayor’s vote to only instances of tie-breaking or if the council had too few members present without the vote.
Additionally, Santa Fe Public Schools is seeking access to $150 million to improve school facilities and purchase computers. The fourth and final ballot question will ask voters to decide if the district can keep current property tax rates of $150 per $100,000 in assessed property to fund school facilities technology upgrades.
Election observers announce hotline ahead of NM local elections - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Ahead of Election Day, two New Mexico organizations have announced plans to monitor statewide polling sites for irregularities, as well as a multi-lingual hotline for voters to call if they encounter issues casting ballots.
Common Cause New Mexico and Observe New Mexico Elections, two nonpartisan organizations, said they have been keeping tabs on polling sites since early voting began Oct. 28, and they’ll keep watch through Election Day on Tuesday.
Common Cause voter protection hotline – voters who encounter issues can call or text this number:
- English: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)
- Spanish: 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682)
- Asian Languages: 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683)
Common Cause New Mexico Executive Director Molly Swank told Source New Mexico on Monday that the off-year election, with a smaller expected turnout, means the group didn’t have capacity to enlist volunteers to observe polling sites in-person. But volunteers will be monitoring its new phone line for calls from voters, she said.
“It’s staffed by volunteer lawyers and election specialists, and they can answer common questions like, ‘What do I need to register?’ or things like that,” she said. “And they can also escalate any issues that folks report from polling locations” to local county clerks’ offices or the Secretary of State.
So far, Swank told Source, the hotline has not received any calls. But she expects some tomorrow from among thousands of voters who wait until Election Day to cast ballots.
Voters are electing mayors, city councilors, school board members and other officials, as well as weighing in on ballot measures, in local races across the state. A little more than 162,000 early and absentee voters have cast their ballots so far, according to the latest figures from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Leaders of Observe New Mexico Elections also announced Monday that they’d monitored early voting at 39 polling sites in 11 counties and that they’d do so again Tuesday. A news release from the group did not detail any issues volunteers observed, though the organization will issue a report after the election “highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement in election processes, and supporting ongoing dialogue about election integrity and best practices,” according to a news release.
The group issued a similar report in May about the 2024 general election, which reported a generally well-run election but also highlighted challenges the state’s system faced with an overwhelming number of same-day registrations on Election Day.
Swank said Common Cause is already gearing up for the 2026 primary and general elections, in which the balance of power in Congress could be decided.
“We imagine that it will be a much more contentious election next year,” she said. “So we’re already starting to talk to volunteers about the program, and we’ll start training early in spring for that.”
Former president Shepard sues WNMU, lawmakers and state auditor - Algernon D'Ammassa, Albuquerque Journal
Western New Mexico University’s former president, Joseph Shepard, is suing the university and several present and former state officials alleging that they conspired to “destroy his reputation” after he raised questions about a $1 million state budget appropriation for a charter school located on the university campus.
The complaint alleges a wide-ranging conspiracy to cover up corruption and to punish Shepard through media disclosures, ethics investigations and the termination of his faculty position following his departure as president.
“No one should be able to take the vast resources of the State and turn them against someone else for the purpose of vengeance and destroying that person simply because he spoke the truth,” Shepard said in a written statement.
Shepard, who was WNMU’s president from 2011 until his departure in January, is seeking damages under New Mexico’s Whistleblower Act as well as the state’s RICO statute, which could triple any damages won in court.
The lawsuit names the university as a defendant along with Regent Vice Chair John Wertheim; state Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee; state Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, the Senate president pro tempore; State Auditor Joseph Maestas; and Siah Correa Hemphill, a former Democratic state senator from Silver City. Shepard, who now resides in Rio Arriba County, filed the lawsuit in Grant County.
Stewart declined to comment, saying she had not yet been served with the lawsuit. Muñoz did not immediately respond to queries from the Journal.
“Western New Mexico University does not comment on personnel matters or on issues related to pending litigation,”the university said in a statement.
Separately, Shepard is pursuing a claim for breach of contract against the university for voiding a separation agreement approved by the former regents in December. He is also seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed in June by the New Mexico State Ethics Commission that alleged Shepard had improperly altered a campus construction project for his personal benefit.
A pending lawsuit by state Attorney General Raúl Torrez challenges the legality of the separation agreement, which included a $1.9 million severance payment and a $200,000 contract to teach courses for WNMU’s business school.
In the lawsuit Shepard filed last week, he alleges that Munoz and Correa Hemphill, who sat on the Finance Committee, conspired to funnel $1 million to the university for “experiential learning supports” that was actually intended for the Aldo Leopold Charter School, which is located on WNMU’s campus, without disclosing the Silver City senator’s previous employment at the school or the enrollment of her children there.
The lawsuit alleges that Shepard objected to the appropriation because it did not name the school and was not transparent or consistent with a memorandum of understanding between the university and the charter school. Shepard said he attempted on multiple occasions to report the appropriation as potential fraud.
As a result, Shepard says he became the target of a “smear campaign.”
The lawsuit includes a sworn affidavit by Tony Trujillo, a lobbyist for WNMU in Santa Fe, stating Munoz informed him in 2023 “he was going to go after Mr. Shepard” and that he would call for a forensic audit.
Correa Hemphill pushed back on the claims in a statement for the Journal.
“As a state senator whose district includes Western New Mexico University, it was my job to ensure transparency and accountability, and that includes asking why Dr. Shepherd was spending public money for first class travel and expensive furniture,” Correa Hemphill said. “It is disheartening that, out of his position as president, Dr. Shepherd is misrepresenting facts in a lawsuit to attack my credibility. The truth is that his claims are based on legislative funding that he asked for himself, and I trust the court system to set this straight.
“For now, though, I invite the community and media to help ensure that the facts are presented accurately. We all share a common goal of strengthening WNMU and the community.”
The lawsuit alleges expenses from Shepard’s presidential account were shared with the press at the direction of Stewart and Correa Hemphill, culminating in news coverage of Shepard’s spending on furnishings for the university-owned presidential residence and travel expenses. That reporting also revealed that Shepard’s wife, former CIA operative and congressional candidate Valerie Plame, had been issued a university purchasing card though she was not an employee.
Shepard alleges both he and Plame were defamed by the news reports, which were followed by probes from the State Ethics Commission, state Auditor’s Office and the state Higher Education Department. Controversy over Shepard’s separation agreement prompted the attorney general to act, while Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked the entire board of regents to resign.
In July, the new board declared the separation agreement invalid, claiming that the former regents had violated New Mexico’s Open Meetings Act.
The lawsuit alleges regent Wertheim and auditor Maestas were part of a conspiracy to use their authority to cover for false attacks.
Maestas’ office said it had not been formally served with the lawsuit and would respond in court, declining to comment further on pending litigation.
Last month, Maestas presented the results of a special audit into the university’s spending during Shepard’s tenure. While the report detailed improper expenditures, weak internal controls and potentially wasteful spending, it reported no evidence of fraud, misappropriation of public funds or corruption.
In a news release, Shepard’s attorney, A. Blair Dunn, said the defendants had misused their authority and public funds to injure Shepard.
“Few things do more damage to shake the public’s confidence in government than the misappropriation of taxpayer money and the use of government power to attack a person who stands up to that corruption,” Dunn wrote.
Trump administration considers revoking ban on oil and gas development near Chaco historical park - By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
The Trump administration says it will be initiating formal meetings with Native American tribes in the southwestern U.S. as it considers revoking a 20-year ban on oil and gas development across hundreds of square miles of federal land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
The Bureau of Land Management made the announcement in a letter sent to tribal leaders last Thursday, saying the agency will conduct an environmental assessment of the proposal to put the federal parcels back on the board for future leasing. A public comment period will follow.
The UNESCO World Heritage site has been at the center of a fight over drilling for years, having spanned multiple presidential administrations. Within park boundaries are the towering remains of stone structures built centuries ago by the region's first inhabitants, and ancient roads and related sites are scattered farther out across the desert plains and sandstone canyons.
With the urging of some pueblo leaders, former President Joe Biden's administration in 2023 issued an order banning new oil and gas development for two decades within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the historic site in northwestern New Mexico.
Tribal leaders who had celebrated the move and New Mexico's Democratic congressional delegation are now concerned the protections could be rolled back as President Donald Trump's administration reconsiders a host of public land orders issued under Biden.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond Monday to an email asking about the latest correspondence with tribal leaders on the Chaco proposal, but said previously that it takes its tribal trust responsibilities seriously and will continue to engage in government-to-government consultation.
The letter indicates BLM will consider three options: leave the withdrawal in place, revoke it in full or opt for a smaller buffer around the park.
It also notes that the process is a priority for the department and that despite the government shutdown, BLM staff would be available to talk with tribal leaders at their request.
Pueblo leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., in September to advocate for the withdrawal to be kept in place and for legislation that would make the ban permanent.
"Our bloodlines, our heritage, our cultural foundation, our identity comes from Chaco Canyon," Santo Domingo Pueblo Lt. Gov. Raymond Aguilar said during a news conference not far from the steps of the Capitol. He likened Chaco to D.C., an important place where leaders serve a mission to protect their people. He said pueblo ancestors who called Chaco home were stewards of the land and that it still serves as a center of prayer today.
From Acoma and Laguna pueblos in New Mexico to the Hopi people in Arizona, oral histories and cultural traditions link back to the Chaco region. At Picuris Pueblo, researchers also have used DNA to link tribal members to the ancestral site — something pueblo members hope will give them a greater voice in shaping decisions about the future of the area as development pressures loom.
The debate over the buffer around Chaco has pitted the Navajo Nation against other tribes in the region. Some Navajos have called for a smaller area to be protected as a way to preserve the oil and gas royalties and other revenues that some families depend on.
In January, the Navajo Nation sued, alleging that the U.S. Interior Department under Biden did not properly consult with its members about the economic impacts on tribal communities of prohibiting new oil and gas leasing and mining claims. The complaint doesn't seek revocation of the withdrawal, but rather challenges the process through which it was implemented.
Albuquerque voters to weigh 11 bond issues on city ballot - Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
Albuquerque voters on Tuesday will be asked to approve or reject 11 general obligation bonds to fund a wide variety of projects, including public safety, affordable housing, museums, libraries, public transportation and street and storm drainage improvements.
The proposed 2025 bonds were prepared by Mayor Tim Keller’s administration and adopted by the City Council. General obligation bonds are secured by the full taxing authority of the city. A detailed list of the bond program is available at the city’s website. The bond questions are:
Public Safety Bonds:
- $12,630,000 to pay for equipment, facilities, vehicles and other public safety improvements, including nearly $3.5 million for new vehicles for police, fire and rescue, and Albuquerque Community Safety.
Senior, Family, Community Center, the Homeless and Community Enhancement Bonds:
- The total $27,380,000 would provide $5 million for homeless facilities and $3.5 million for senior centers.
Parks and Recreation Bonds:
- $33,780,000 for improvements to the city’s parks, swimming pools, tennis courts and other recreational facilities. That includes $5.5 million for an aquatic center at North Domingo Baca Park, $4.9 million for open space land acquisition, $4 million for the Ken Sanchez Indoor Sports Complex, $3.5 million for irrigation projects at city parks, and $1 million for heavy equipment purchases.
Energy and Water Conservation, Public Facilities, and System Modernization Bonds:
- $20,835,500 to improve public buildings, facilities and systems, including $5.4 million for energy conservation and renewable energy projects, $4.8 million for improvements to city facilities, $1 million for fire suppression at city parking structures, $900,000 for railyard rehabilitation, and $862,000 for roof repairs.
Library Bonds:
- $4,450,000 for public libraries, including $3 million for library materials and $1 million for renovations.
Street Bonds:
- $50,858,750 to build and improve city streets and related projects, including $5 million for ongoing improvements to major streets and intersections, $4 million for repaving streets and reconstructing bridges and major intersections, $4 million for improvements to McMahon NW, $3.4 million for improvements to Paseo del Norte and Unser NW, $1.5 million for ADA-compliant sidewalks, $1 million for rights-of-way purchases, $1 million for automated traffic management systems, $1 million for pedestrian safety around Whittier Elementary School and Wilson Middle School, $1 million for pedestrian safety on East Central Avenue, $1 million for improvements to Indian School NE east of Juan Tabo.
Public Transportation Bonds:
- $1,625,750 to acquire property, vehicles and equipment for public transportation facilities, including $876,000 to buy and rehabilitate buses and vans.
Storm Sewer System Bonds:
- $8,950,000 to build and improve the city’s storm sewer system, including $1 million for pump station rehabilitation at the South Broadway storm basin.
Museum and Cultural Facilities Bonds:
- $6,800,000 to build, maintain and improve city-owned museums, performing arts centers and cultural facilities, including $3 million for improvements at the Albuquerque Museum.
Affordable Housing Bonds:
- $10,150,000 to support the Workforce Housing Act to fund construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing for low- to moderate-income working families and seniors.
Metropolitan Redevelopment Bonds:
- $2,540,000 for redevelopment projects and to support private-sector development in Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas throughout the city.
New Mexico governor in Brazil to take part in U.N. climate change conference - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is headed south for the winter — at least for a few days.
The governor left New Mexico on Saturday to take part in a two-week United Nations climate change conference that begins Thursday in the Brazilian city of Belém.
Lujan Grisham, who is the former co-chair of the U.S. Climate Alliance, will join several other governors attending the event, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The entire United States delegation features about 100 individuals, but no high-level members of President Donald Trump’s administration.
In Brazil, Lujan Grisham is also scheduled to speak at several climate-related panel discussions in Rio de Janeiro before the conference officially begins, according to the Governor’s Office.
No state Cabinet officials are joining the governor for this year’s conference, though the governor’s deputy chief of operations, Caroline Buerkle, will be traveling with her, a spokesman said.
Lujan Grisham has also traveled to the annual U.N. climate change conference in past years, leading a local delegation to Scotland in 2021, Egypt in 2022 and Dubai in 2023. She did not attend last year’s conference in Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, the Brazil trip marks the latest overseas travel for Lujan Grisham, who has also made voyages this year to Japan and Singapore. The governor has also made stops in several other states.
Lujan Grisham, who will embark on her final year as New Mexico’s governor in January, has touted her administration’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enacting new methane and clean fuel rules, among other steps.
But the governor has still faced criticism — and lawsuits — from some environmental groups and advocates who have argued she has not done enough to protect state residents from pollution related to the oil and natural gas industries.
During a recent news conference, Lujan Grisham described her approach to energy issues as “pragmatic” in the nation’s second-highest oil-producing state, adding that litigation is difficult to avoid on such issues.
“Someone is going to sue us on either side of this equation,” the governor said during the September news conference.
The governor is scheduled to take part in meetings related to the U.N. climate change conference through Nov. 11, a spokesman said Monday. She then plans to take a week of personal time off before returning to New Mexico on Nov. 18.
The governor’s travel costs are being paid by Bloomberg Philanthropies, a group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Per the state Constitution, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales will serve as acting governor while Lujan Grisham is traveling outside the state.